Loneliness, anxiety, and wellbeing before and during COVID-19 in Bangladesh

• Author / Creator

  Ashiq, Md Ashiqur Rahman

• Background: COVID-19 has significant impact on mental health and wellbeing of population all over the globe. The study used collected data from a large research project by International Citizen Project COVID-19 (ICPCOVID), Bangladesh chapter, to assess a potential difference between participants’ loneliness, anxiety, and wellbeing before and during COVID-19 as well as the associated factors in Bangladesh. Methods: The primary study was a web-based cross-sectional study which used non-probability sampling method (convenience sampling) to collect data using a survey link (www.icpcovid.com/en/home). Invitations to participate were sent through different platforms, including social media (e.g., WhatsApp groups, and Facebook, email messages). In Bangladesh, data were collected from May to September 2020. To assess loneliness, anxiety, and wellbeing of the participants University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) 3-item Loneliness Questionnaire, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7), and WHO-5 Wellbeing Index tools were used respectively. To compare before COVID-19 and during COVID-19 scenario, each item of the used tools in the survey asked the participants to respond for two time points: “two weeks before COVID-19 crisis” and “since the beginning of COVID-19 crisis” in Bangladesh. A total of 1360 individuals responded to the questionnaire and 890 of them were included in the final analysis in order to conduct complete case analysis. Primary outcome of this study were loneliness, anxiety, and wellbeing as measured by the tools (UCLA-3 item questionnaire, GAD-7, WHO-5) and Sociodemographic variables, COVID-19-related questions, and time spending patterns during COVID-19 were considered covariates. At first, Chi-square test was done to see the association between the dichotomized outcome variables and independent variables. Backward elimination stepwise multivariable logistic regression was conducted to see the associated factors of the outcome variables. Result:Majority of the respondents were from the urban area of Bangladesh (75.3%). Most of the participants (70.3%) were less than 25 years old and were single (78.7%). More than half of the participants’ highest level of education was a Bachelor's degree (54.9%). Almost two-thirds of the respondents were students (68.9%). Two weeks before COVID-19 crisis, among the respondents 43.4% were found to be lonely, 33.4% had mild to severe anxiety symptoms, and 42.2% had impaired wellbeing (as recalled). Since the beginning of the pandemic, 57.2% respondents were found to be lonely, 68.8% had mild to severe anxiety symptoms, and 79.6% had impaired wellbeing. McNemar chi-square tests showed that the proportions of participants who were lonely, had mild to severe anxiety symptoms, and had impaired wellbeing were different since the beginning of COVID-19 than 2 weeks before COVID-19 (as recalled) (p1.0, 2.3). Since the beginning of the pandemic, multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that, loneliness was associated with male participants (OR: 0.6, 95% CI: 0.5, 0.9), married participants (OR: 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2, 0.7), presence of comorbidity (OR: 1.5, 95%CI: 1.03, 2.3), and more social media use (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 0.7, 2.6). Anxiety symptoms were associated with being male (OR: 0.7, 95%CI: 0.5, 0.9), presence of comorbidity (OR: 1.7, 95%CI: 1.04, 2.7), found it difficult to avoid COVID-19 related news (OR: 2.4, 95%CI: 1.4, 4.1), and more social media use (OR:3.1, 95%CI: 1.5, 6.2). Impaired wellbeing was associated with being male (OR: 0.7, 95%CI: 0.4, 1.0), found it difficult to avoid COVID-19 related news (OR: 2.4, 95%CI: 1.4, 4.2), more social media use (OR: 2.5, 95%CI: 1.2), and work from home (OR: 0.4, 95%CI: 0.2, 0.7). Multivariable analysis also showed that, loneliness was associated with anxiety (OR: 3.8, 95% CI: 2.6, 5.4) and impaired wellbeing (OR: 1.8, 95%CI: 1.2, 2.6). Conclusion: This study provided evidence on prevalence and associated factors of loneliness, anxiety, and wellbeing as well as their associated factors in before and during COVID-19 scenario. The findings will try to fill the void in mental health research related to COVID-19 in Bangladesh.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • Mental Health
  • Loneliness
  • Anxiety
  • Wellbeing
  • Bangladesh

• Graduation date

  Fall 2022

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-6mpa-hz42

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.