Does Social Distancing During The Lock Down Due To Covid-19 Outbreak In Mumbai Affect Quality Of Life?

Abstract

Background – Social distancing leads to decrease in the spread of the novel virus but at the same time it shows to have a negative effect on the quality of life of the general population.
 Methodology - A cross-sectional survey study was conducted using an electronic version of WHOQOL-BREF scale. The demographic data was collected along with the 26 questions of the scale. We distributed this survey to the general population through electronic and social media.
 Results – We received 861 responses. Excluding the incomplete responses, we analyzed 832 responses. They had a mean age of 48.33yrs, majority being graduates (56.4%), majority of the subjects were males (59.25%), and there was no significant age difference between both the genders. The overall quality of life was perceived to be 3.48 and the satisfaction for health was 3.77. Most affected domains were the physical and psychological domains. Lowest quality of life responses were noted for questions pertaining to financial, transportation and sleep related. 
 Conclusion- The quality of life in lock downs due to corona virus is affected due to social distancing. Law makers need to take care to avoid increasing this negative impact while enforcing lock downs.