Tools for the evaluation of the psychological impact of COVID-19: A practical guide for Family physicians and Primary Care Practitioners

Socio-behavioural impact of COVID-19 on general population: A cross-sectional survey of one thousand seventy-nine participants across India between the first and the second wave of pandemic

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

COVID-19 is expected to have a significant impact on the socio-behavioural aspect of citizens' lives, although the effects are expected to manifest differently in different population groups. The current study was conducted to assess the socio-behavioural impact of COVID-19 among the general population across India between the first and the second wave of pandemic.

METHODS

A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 15th March -25th March 2021 using a pre-validated validated questionnaire upon the general population using e-survey, telephonic and face-to-face interview. The participants were recruited from the different regions of India by the purposive and snowball sampling technique following the principle of maximum diversity. Appropriate statistical tests were applied to study the association between the various sociodemographic variables and different behaviours.

RESULTS

A total of 1079 responses were analysed for the study. Almost half of the participants feared contracting the COVID-19 infection. Overall, female participants, elderly people (more than 60 years of age) and urban dwellers reported a greater fear in the survey. More than half of the participants (53.39%) reported significant difficulties due to home confinement. People have become more inclined to adopt healthy lifestyles. There are mixed responses in the area of following preventive practices.

CONCLUSION

People have a significant amount of fear and anxiety related to the pandemic, leading to several social and behavioural changes that might have a considerable impact on their everyday lives.

Association of Sociodemographic Parameters With Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Sleep Quality, Psychological Trauma, Mental Well-Being, and Resilience During the Second Wave of COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Survey From India

Objective This study was conducted to assess the traumatic impact of the second wave of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on depression, anxiety, stress, sleep quality, mental well-being, and resilience among the general population of India. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in May-June, 2021 via Google Forms, which included adult individuals who were willing to participate in the study. The purposive and snowball sampling technique was used to ensure the principle of maximum diversity. Standardised tools [Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS), Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Impact of Event-Revised (IES-R), Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS), and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS)] were used to collect data. Results A total of 1,109 responses were analysed for this study. Participants of different age groups (mean age: 32.98 ±14.72 years) and different sociodemographics were enrolled. The younger population group (18-34 years) was found to be the most affected among all the age groups. The findings revealed that 44.18% showed posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like symptoms. About 48.87%, 65.56%, and 22.09% of the participants had significant depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms respectively, and 11.27% had disturbed sleep patterns. Mental well-being was found to be disturbed for 74.75% of the study population, out of which only 4.15% showed high resilience capacity. Conclusion The associated collective psychological trauma mapped out by this paper is a pandemic in itself and needs to be addressed on a scale similar to the efforts being made to curb the physical symptoms of COVID-19.