Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected all aspects of society, including mental and physical health. Often missed is the fact that the pandemic is occurring against the backdrop of a very high prevalence of mental health issues. Protecting the mental health of people and healthcare workers is important for long-term positive health outcomes and proper control of the outbreak. This is a descriptive cross-sectional, questionnaire-based, online survey by convenience sampling. Ethical approval was obtained from the institutional review committee of Nepal Health Research Council (reference no. 2467). Open access, pre-validated questionnaires were used. Participants with significantly poor Mental wellbeing were identified using the WHO well-being index threshold score. Descriptive statistical analysis was carried out. Five hundred and fifty-six participants were included in the analysis. Forty percent of the participants reported a WHO well-being index score of below 13, indicative of poor mental wellbeing and a need for further assessment for depression. Poor Mental wellbeing was more prevalent among participants less than 30 years of age, female gender, never married, diagnosed mental disorder, living alone and those using informal sources for COVID-19 related information. More participants with lower sleep quality score and higher perceived stress score reported poor Mental wellbeing. Combating this challenge requires integration across disciplines. One potential part of the solution is psychological intervention teams. An emerging positive connotation to the pandemic is that it needs to be harnessed as a tool for improving health facilities, community participation, and fighting misinformation.

Highlights

  • COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected all aspects of society, including mental and physical health

  • With a mean age of participation of 25 years, demonstrated that poor mental wellbeing was more prevalent in the younger age group

  • Similar finding was reported in a study conducted in China, where adolescents had a higher incidence of depressive symptoms during COVID-19 than adults.[27]

Read more

Summary

Introduction

COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected all aspects of society, including mental and physical health. Often missed is the fact that the pandemic is occurring against the backdrop of a very high prevalence of mental health issues. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly affected all aspects of society, including mental and physical health. Shrestha et al Mental Wellbeing during the Lockdown Period following the COVID-19 Pandemic in Nepal. Among the different domains of preparatory measures, ones related to psychological health are the most ignored.[3] Exploring different factors that correlate to poor mental wellbeing during the lockdown can help guide and advocate for proper and adequate intervention

Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call