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Financial Difficulties Correlate With Mental Health Among Bangladeshi Residents Amid COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Survey

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posted on 2023-07-26, 15:39 authored by Abu B. Siddique, Sudipto D. Nath, Md. Saiful Islam, Tausif H. Khan, Shahina Pardhan, M. Ziaul Amin, M. Imran Al Amin, Zayed B. Z. Shawon, Kamrun N. Koly
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global threat which has challenged mental resilience and impacted the psychological well-being of people across all age groups globally. The present study aimed to investigate how financial difficulties during the pandemic correlate with mental health among residents of Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 4,020 residents from different parts of Bangladesh between July and September 2020, during a period of elevated risk of COVID-19 infection. A self-reported online questionnaire comprising socio-demographic, financial difficulties and psychometric measures (to assess depression, anxiety and stress) was used to gather information from participants. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the factors associated with mental health consequences. Results: The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in the sample were 71.1%, 62.3%, and 56.7%, respectively. Levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly higher among participants who reported female sex, being unmarried, smaller families, higher monthly family income, poor self-perceived health status, living near people who had been infected by COVID-19, probability of decreased income, food scarcity (both during the pandemic and in the future) and the possibility of unemployment. However, due to the nature of the cross-sectional study performed with a convenience sampling method, the causal relationship between variables cannot be justified. Conclusions: After several months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, more than half of the respondents rated their mental health concerns as moderate to severe. The findings highlight the contributing factors of poor mental health which warrant the creation of interventions that address the economic, financial and mental health impacts of the pandemic.

History

Refereed

  • Yes

Volume

12

Page range

755357

Publication title

Frontiers in Psychiatry

ISSN

1664-0640

Publisher

Frontiers Media

File version

  • Published version

Language

  • eng

Legacy posted date

2022-01-04

Legacy creation date

2022-01-04

Legacy Faculty/School/Department

COVID-19 Research Collection

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