Abstract
BackgroundA lower respiratory tract infection caused by novel coronavirus termed as Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) was first identified in China and subsequently took the form of pandemic. Studies on disease outbreak in the past and recent COVID-19 outbreak have demonstrated increased psychological distress and adverse impacts on mental health and psychological wellbeing of people. However, the impact of COVID-19 on psychological wellbeing of people in Nepal hasn't been studied adequately. So, this paper aims to report the findings from a social media survey on psychological impacts of COVID-19 in Nepal.MethodsData were collected through social media from 2082 Nepalese respondents between 23rd April, 2020 and 3rd May, 2020. A total of 2014 respondents who were currently residing in Nepal were included in the analysis.ResultsThe study suggested that half of the respondents suffered from at least one symptom of psychological distress whereas 32% suffered from two or more symptoms of psychological distress such as restlessness, fearfulness, anxiety and worry and sadness in the past 2 weeks preceding the survey date. The findings further suggested that respondents having lower family income, residing in rented room, and participants from province 2 were more likely to suffer from both single and multiple symptoms of psychological distress.ConclusionThe study has shown high prevalence of psychological distress amongst the Nepalese respondents following COVID-19 outbreak. Appropriate mental health and psychosocial support response needs to be instituted to adequately respond to psychological impacts of the epidemic.
Highlights
A lower respiratory tract infection caused by novel coronavirus termed as Corona Virus Disease (COVID19) was first identified in China and subsequently took the form of pandemic
We aim to explore the impact of COVID-19 on psychological wellbeing of people in Transcultural Psychosocial Organization Nepal (Nepal) using the social media survey
Background characteristics indicated that more female than male; respondents having children under 2 years and pregnancy in the household; respondents having agriculture/labour/household work as occupation compared with other occupations; and respondents having lower family income had suffered more from the perceived psychological distress
Summary
A lower respiratory tract infection caused by novel coronavirus termed as Corona Virus Disease (COVID19) was first identified in China and subsequently took the form of pandemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) used the term 2019 novel coronavirus to refer to the virus that affected the lower respiratory tract of patients with pneumonia in Wuhan, China on 29 December 2019 [1]. Adjusted logistic regression model indicated that respondents residing in rented room increased the odds of suffering from both single (Adjusted OR 1.56, CI: 1.28–1.91) and multiple symptoms of psychological distress (Adjusted OR 1.54, CI: 1.24–1.90). Increase in the monthly income of the households reduced the odds of suffering from either single (Adjusted OR 0.29, CI: 0.20–0.41) or multiple symptoms of psychological distress (Adjusted OR 0.25, CI: 0.18–0.36)
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