Assessing the anxiety level of Iranian general population during COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract This study is aimed to assess the anxiety level of Iranian general population during COVID-19 outbreak. The online questionnaire surveyed 10,754 individuals from the general population of 31 provinces of Iran who completed the questionnaire on social networks from March 1 to March 9, 2020. The inferential statistics suggests that the level of anxiety was higher among women (95 % CI [0.1, 81.36], p < 0.001), people who more followed corona-related news (p < 0.001) and the age group of 21–40 years (p < 0.001). Ultimately, the level of anxiety was significantly higher among people who had at least one family member, relative, or friend who contracted COVID-19 disease (95 % CI [1.2, 35.03], p < 0.001). The health care system should adopt a package of psychosocial interventions to reduce the anxiety of high risk groups.