Psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 in the Guinean population. An online cross-sectional survey

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward COVID-19 among the general population: a cross-sectional study in Kankan, Guinea

Background

Implementing decisive and effective infection prevention and control measures necessitates a thorough grasp of the general population's level of knowledge in order to identify existing gaps and react appropriately.

Objective

The goal of this cross-sectional research was to assess public knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) about COVID-19 in Kankan Guinea, in order to better understand the socio-demographic factors that are associated with poor KAP.

Materials and Methods

The study population consists of 1230 people who reside in five health districts in the Kankan region. An anonymous paper-based questionnaire, given face-toface by trained field agents, was used to gather data.

Results

The research included 1230 Guineans in total. The bulk of respondents (60%) were familiar with COVID-19. Only 44% of respondents under the age of 29 had a clear understanding of COVID-19. Male participants knew more about COVID-19 than female ones (P=0.003). The majority of participants (82%) had negative attitudes toward COVID-19, while 61% reported positive practices linked to COVID-19 measures. In this research, being female was a risk factor for poor knowledge of COVID-19 (P0,001), and being single was a risk factor for negative attitudes toward COVID-19 (P=0,009).

Conclusion

Appropriate measures should be taken to increase public awareness and improve general practice of preventive measures aimed at reducing the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

[Impact of COVID-19 on public health in sub-Saharan Africa]

Objective

This work aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare supply in sub-Saharan Africa except South Africa.

Method

A search through PubMed® between April 2020 and August 2022 selected 135 articles. The impact of COVID-19 was assessed on comparisons with the months prior to the onset of COVID-19 or an identical season in previous years.

Results

The decline of health services, associated with a reduction in their quality, and the closure of specialized health units have been reported. Many control programs and public health interventions have been interrupted, with the risk of an increase of the corresponding diseases. Social disorganization has generated mental health issues among the population, including health personnel. The impact was heterogeneous in space and time. The main causes were attributed to containment measures (transport restrictions, trade closures) and the lack of human and material resources. The increase in costs, in addition to the impoverishment of the population, and the fear of being contaminated or stigmatized have discouraged patients from going to health centres. The studies mention the gradual return to normal after the first epidemic wave and the resilience of the healthcare system.

Conclusion

Several articles make recommendations aimed at reducing the impact of future epidemics: support for community workers, training of health workers and reorganization of services to improve the reception and care of patients, technological innovations (use of telephones, drones, etc.) and better information monitoring.

Ensuring continuity of care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea: Process evaluation of a health indigent fund

Background

The emergence of the COVID-19 has disrupted the health and socioeconomic sectors, particularly in resource-poor settings such as Guinea. Like many sub-Saharan countries, Guinea is facing shortcomings related to its fragile health system and is further affected by the passage of the Ebola virus disease. The pandemic has worsened the socio-economic situation of the poorest people, leading to their exclusion from health care. To promote access to care for the most vulnerable populations, a system was set up to provide care for these people who are victims of health marginalization to promote their access to care. This study aimed to analyze access to health services by vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Guinea through the establishment of a health indigent fund (HIF).

Methods

This was a qualitative study to assess the project implementation process. A total of 73 in-depth individual interviews were conducted with beneficiaries, health workers, community health workers and members of the HIF management committee, and a few informal observations and conversions were also conducted in the project intervention areas. The data collected were transcribed and coded using the deductive and inductive approaches with the Nvivo software before applying the thematic analysis.

Results

A total of 1,987 indigents were identified, of which 1,005 were cared for and 64 referred to all 38 intervention health facilities within the framework of the HIF. All participants appreciated the project's social action to promote access to equitable and quality health care for this population excluded from health care services. In addition, the project has generated waves of compassion and solidarity toward these "destitute" people whose main barrier to accessing health care remains extreme poverty. A state of poverty that leads some to sell their assets (food or animal reserves) or to go into debt to ensure access to care for their children, considered the most at risk.

Conclusion

The HIF can be seen as an honest attempt to provide better access to health care for the most vulnerable groups. Some challenges need to be addressed including the current system of acquiring funds before the attempt can be considered scalable.

[Assessing psychological, anxiety, depression and stress levels of Senegalese general population during COVID-19 pandemic]

OBJECTIVES

- Assessing of Impact of Event, depression, anxiety and stress levels in the Senegalese general population during the COVID19 pandemic and identifying associated factors.

METHODS

- Socio-demographic data, psychological impact of the pandemic, and mental health status of participants were collected using an online questionnaire administered to the general population of Senegal between April 1st and April 30th 2021. Psychological impact and mental health status were assessed, respectively, by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale 21 (DASS21). The data were analyzed by Jamovi software, version 1.6.23. Logistic regression in univariate and multivariate analyses were used to determine statistically significant associations with a significance level of p<0.05.

RESULTS

- We enrolled 447 respondents with 19% reporting a moderate to severe psychological impact of the outbreak. Respectively 13.4%, 5.1% and 15.2% had moderate to extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress. Statistically significant associations with higher odds of severe levels of psychological impact of the event, depression, anxiety, and stress were represented by five characteristics: Living in Dakar, no formal education, a personal medical chronic disease, a close family member with a chronic medical disease and poor to very poor self-reported health status.

CONCLUSION

- This study determined the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and stress in the Senegalese general population during the COVID19 pandemic. Our study assessed the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, and stress in the general population of Senegal during the COVID pandemic19. It confirms that the pandemic has truly an impact on the mental health of the Senegalese population. This impact is strongly influenced by geographic area and level of education.

Mental Health of the General Population during the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: A Tale of Two Developing Countries

Background: This study aimed to compare the severity of psychological impact, anxiety and depression between people from two developing countries, Iran and China, and to correlate mental health parameters with variables relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although China and Iran are developing countries based on the World Bank’s criteria, these two countries are different in access to resources and health care systems. We hypothesized that Iranians would show higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress as compared to Chinese. Methods: This study collected information related to the COVID-19 pandemic including physical health, precautionary measures and knowledge about the pandemic. We also used validated questionnaires such as the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) to assess the mental health status. Results: There were a total of 1411 respondents (550 from Iran; 861 from China). The mean IES-R scores of respondents from both countries were above the cut-off for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Iranians had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression (p < 0.01). Significantly more Iranians believed COVID-19 was transmitted via contact, practised hand hygiene, were unsatisfied with health information and expressed less confidence in their doctors, but were less likely to wear a facemask (p < 0.001). Significantly more Iranians received health information related to COVID-19 via television while Chinese preferred the Internet (p < 0.001). Conclusions: This cross-country study found that Iranians had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression as compared to Chinese. The difference in reported measures between respondents from Iran and China were due to differences in access to healthcare services and governments’ responses to the pandemic.