MENTAL HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN INDIAN POPULATION

Objective: As there is a dearth of researches targeting the Indian population on this issue, we decided to conduct a survey to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 on mental health and quality of life of Indians. Methods: In this Cross-Sectional study, a total of 2245 participants above 16 y of age were included. Mental health variables were assessed via depression, anxiety and stress subscale (DASS-21), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI-7), Patient health questionnaire (PHQ-15), Quality of life (QoL-5) and social media exposure. Results: The multivariate logistic regression demonstrated female (OR-1.17, 95% CI: 0.99 to 1.38) had significantly higher depression scores whereas, housewife had higher depression (OR-1.68, 95% CI: 1.33 to 2.13), anxiety (OR-1.64, 95% CI: 1.15 to 2.35), insomnia (OR-1.32, 95% CI: 1.14 to 1.53), somatic symptoms (OR-1.76, 95% CI: 1.21 to 2.57). Front line workers had a higher psychological impact with increased scores of anxieties (OR-1.23, 95% CI: 0.79 to 1.53), stress (OR-1.82, 95% CI: 0.76 to 2.55), insomnia (OR-1.65, 95% CI: 1.31 to 2.09). Lower education level had significantly higher score in depression (OR-1.14, 95% CI: 0.73 to 1.32), insomnia (OR-2.42, 95% CI: 2.07 to 2.84), somatic symptoms (OR-2.59, 95% CI: 1.80 to 3.37). Poor physical health, social media exposure was significantly associated with heightened anxiety score. Conclusion: There is a need for psychological intervention as the dynamics and severity of COVID-19 is rapidly changing. These findings could guide the public health authorities to target and implement health measures to combat the pandemic