Psychological Impact of COVID-19 [COVID-19]

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  Psychological impact of COVID- 19- pandemic and experience: An international survey.

• IRAS ID

  282858

• Contact name

  Shanaya Rathod

• Contact email

  shanayarathod@nhs.net

• Sponsor organisation

  Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust

• Duration of Study in the UK

  1 years, 0 months, 1 days

• Research summary

  Summary of Research
  This study aims to explore the psychological impact of COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant restrictions in terms of behavioural, emotional and social factors. Questions will be asked of the data collected to see what factors may be supportive or more detrimental to wellbeing. The general public including health professionals and those with pre-existing mental health conditions will be invited to complete the survey. This will enable identification of vulnerable groups who may experience more extreme or differing impacts to the rest of the population. Additionally the international aspect of the survey will identify any cultural differences, differences caused by the scale of the outbreaks effect across countries and any differences to government responses and restrictions. The questionnaire will be repeated after six months to allow for the development of the epidemic and measure the impact of restrictions being in place for a longer time period.\nThis survey will greatly enhance our currently limited understanding of how such epidemics impact on the populations’ wellbeing. The COVID-19 outbreak is an unprecedented event in modern times and as such its impact cannot be guessed and therefore needs to be measured to inform future service provision and also any future similar circumstances.\n

  Summary of Results
  The Psychological Impact of Covid-19 study was an online questionnaire study where people from across the globe were able to volunteer to answer questions about the Covid-19 pandemic, government guidance and their emotional health. The aim was to understand how such natural difficulties affect people’s mental health and wellbeing and help plan for future. So far, the group have published several papers about the results of the study.

  https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu2790089.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3DXv3JSvJ-2B3M71ppf7N9agbfBkV8STyx-2BNg3HoA191NasM0GzXDgROx2PPWQJTYTZmkQv-2FuJCiHOO-2FnFBdwy2h-2FK4PAUd8TDczyx66L3V3xPg-3Dk6PX_E1aO2-2BZlVOSJJV-2FajQqskegTd6IRomHYTi-2Fbt8SH3YIkIm4vZC0aXvzTlhwwRaFVIlsgjLFoVhq4AFvjP7oBPIvg8EFfKL-2B46yDXa2pBKHThHhZjbj43hxTS1jA4MrxuGI4AGqdP7Z8TwEwfeGgkTUNXyc1F6sJmaWJpwtUI6Wq0yVqFT8BW1fGwq-2BLVTHRFwUk4p2ZJBhkzaXUklv9RHw-3D-3D&data=05%7C01%7Capprovals%40hra.nhs.uk%7Ca53bd20ceea84bedb06a08db02c077b4%7C8e1f0acad87d4f20939e36243d574267%7C0%7C0%7C638106797878133001%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=2tqtjw5BhdSIy%2BAirxpEL0GpJm2zJYB7E7SRp9Jaobo%3D&reserved=0

  The first publication was an early analysis of the first three weeks of data with a focus on healthcare professionals as they were frontline in the fight against Covid. The results showed that Healthcare professionals reported mild depression and anxiety more than non-healthcare professionals. Also, 32% of participants reported suicidal thoughts and those that reported suicidal thoughts before Covid-19 were less likely to communicate with friends or family. It was found that the categories of people most likely to follow Covid government guidelines were being female and increasing age. Those less likely to follow included higher education, homeowners, key worker status, high alcohol, drug use and participants with pre-existing suicidal thoughts.

  Rathod, S., Pallikadavath, S., Young, A. H., Graves, L., Rahman, M. M., Brooks, A., ... & Phiri, P. (2020). Psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic: Protocol and results of first three weeks from an international cross-section survey-focus on health professionals. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 1, 100005.

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  This publication looked at the face covering policy that was in place during Covid-19, when Covid-19 restrictions were relaxed and how this may have affected mental health. The results showed that during the lockdown period and when the lockdown measures were relaxed, reported levels of anxiety and depression were the same, but were more when wearing a face covering was compulsory. The levels of distress caused by Covid-19 decreased when rules were relaxed and even further decreased when the face covering policy was introduced.

  Rathod, S., Pallikadavath, S., Graves, E., Rahman, M. M., Brooks, A., Soomro, M. G., ... & Phiri, P. (2021). Impact of lockdown relaxation and implementation of the face-covering policy on mental health: A United Kingdom COVID-19 study. World Journal of Psychiatry, 11(12), 1346.

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  This paper looked at suicidal thoughts during the Covid-19 pandemic and the times where restrictions were put in place by the government. Results showed that participants who were younger and participants who were male reported having more suicidal thoughts. During the three different time periods that volunteers completed the survey, 31% participants reported experiencing suicidal thoughts in phase 1, 30% in phase 2 and 19% in phase 3.

  Rathod, S., Phiri, P., Pallikadavath, S., Graves, E., Brooks, A., Rathod, P., & Lin, S. (2022). The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Suicidal Thoughts in the United Kingdom. BJPsych Open, 8(S1), S69-S69.

  The following papers have been published by colleagues who collaborated from Canada and India Turner, B., Switzer, A., Welch, B., Legg, N., Gregory, M., Phiri, P., Rathod, S., Paterson, T., Psychological mediators of the associations between pandemic-related stressors and suicidal ideation across three periods of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Journal of Affective Disorders, Volume 324, 2023, 566-575, ISSN 0165-0327,
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  Bhargava, R; Kathiresan, P, Bakhara, Y, Sharma, M. Phiri, P, Rathod, S. Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health of Aged Population in India: An Online, Cross-sectional Survey. World Social psychiatry, 211-216.2022

  Gregory, M.A., Legg, N.K., Senay, Z., Barden, J., Phiri, P., Rathod, S., ... Paterson, T.S.E. (2021). Mental Health and Social Connectedness Across the Adult Lifespan in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement 40(4), 554-569. https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fu2790089.ct.sendgrid.net%2Fls%2Fclick%3Fupn%3DXv3JSvJ-2B3M71ppf7N9agbYwuTKk1nkoXXS1pWfPmau3f-2BvHHCE9JN61gN2m3ogIF0Lpru-2B-2B3bkBrWWMICWuLjw-3D-3DF92G_E1aO2-2BZlVOSJJV-2FajQqskegTd6IRomHYTi-2Fbt8SH3YIkIm4vZC0aXvzTlhwwRaFVKKISfgq-2B4iIlhtKvWVWlyZ6kcuvtGEdkS5opJIyS-2Bb7TYxTziZv6c9l-2FI0ouZkwtniOJ4-2BBphMktDBcK0WEhVLN7It0r81ov101H2XBfZIUicJTZdwkgRw9Y9elJpCykz1wEN-2BW2KcwGe0taUfzMvw-3D-3D&data=05%7C01%7Capprovals%40hra.nhs.uk%7Ca53bd20ceea84bedb06a08db02c077b4%7C8e1f0acad87d4f20939e36243d574267%7C0%7C0%7C638106797878133001%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=3dh0PoI1ieuANhJ7t7%2FAS8wdI7%2BbXaPlAVIvdmEWQII%3D&reserved=0

• REC name

  London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  20/HRA/1934

• Date of REC Opinion

  27 Apr 2020

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion