Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Depressive Symptoms among Poor Urban Women: A Study in Dhaka City of Bangladesh

Mohammad Mahbub Alam Talukder¹, Md. Tuhin Mia^2, , Nashir Uddin Shaikh³, Nasreen Sultana Chowdhury⁴, Md. Ismael³, Morshed Alam⁵ and Mohammad Ala Uddin²

¹Accident Research Institute (ARI), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

²Institute of Social Welfare and Research, University of Dhaka

³Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka

⁴Department of Sociology, University of Dhaka

⁵Department of Education and Research, Jagannath University

Cite this paper:
Mohammad Mahbub Alam Talukder, Md. Tuhin Mia, Nashir Uddin Shaikh, Nasreen Sultana Chowdhury, Md. Ismael, Morshed Alam and Mohammad Ala Uddin. Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Depressive Symptoms among Poor Urban Women: A Study in Dhaka City of Bangladesh. Research in Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. 2021; 9(1):9-16. doi: 10.12691/rpbs-9-1-2

Abstract

(1) Background: The world is currently experiencing a tremendous period in which the epidemic significantly affects people's physical and mental health. Poor urban women are more vulnerable to suffer from depression, stress, and other mental health concerns in this environment. (2) Objectives: The general objective of the study is to investigate the depression status due to fear of COVID-19 among the poor urban women living in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. (3) Methods: This cross-sectional study included 424 questionnaire surveys with poor urban women. Chi-squared tests were used to measure differences between various parameters (related to mental depression status due to COVID-19), while the Cronbach Alpha test was used to measure the dispersion of some selected variables. (4) Results: This study demonstrated that cent percent of respondents recognize COVID-19 as a dangerous virus where 79.7% reported direct infection during coughing as a reason for spreading COVID-19. About 78.3% of respondents have taken measures to prevent the coronavirus whereas 92.7% wash hands with water and soap. About 49.5% agreed that they were worried about the coronavirus whereas 51.2% agreed to COVID-19 as the most feared issue and 50.2% agreed that they feel fear of losing the lives of people. In accordance, 56.8% agreed that they were worried that they wouldn't be able to see their relatives because of isolation and 53.8% agreed they worried about getting medical care. In measuring reliability the statement “I can't sleep because I worry too much about the coronavirus” has the highest Cronbach Alpha (0.830). It is observed that there has a significant association between marital status, age, and income with depression at a 5% level of significance where (p<0.028), (p<0.015), and (p<0.004) respectively. (5) Conclusion: Most urban women are mentally depressed due to COVID-19 considering their marital status, age, and income.

Keywords:
effects COVID-19 pandemic depression symptoms poor urban women

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	WHO (2020). The Global Health Observatory data repository. https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.HWFGRP_0020.
[2]	COVID-19 Map [Internet]. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. [cited 2021 May 28]. Available from: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html.
[3]	World Health Organization. (2020). Coronavirus disease (‎COVID-19)‎. Available from: https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/searo/bangladesh/covid-19-who-bangladesh-situation-reports/who-ban-covid-19-sitrep-04.pdf?sfvrsn=69b6d931_8.
[4]	World meter. Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. Available online: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus (accessed on 5 April 2021).
[5]	Mowbray H. 2020. In Beijing, coronavirus 2019-nCoV has created a siege mentality. BMJ. 368.
[6]	Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, Ho RC. 2020a. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 17(5):1729.
[7]	Holmes EA, O’Connor RC, Perry VH, Tracey I, Wessely S, Arseneault L, Ballard C, Christensen H, Silver RC, Everall I. 2020. Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: a call for action for mental health science. Lancet Psychiatry. 7(6): 547-560.
[8]	Zhang, Y., & Ma, Z. F. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pan- demic on mental health and quality of life among local residents in Liaoning Province, China: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7), Article 2381.
[9]	Cao, W., Fang, Z., Hou, G., Han, M., Xu, X., Dong, J., &Zheng, J. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Research, 287, 112934.
[10]	Wang, Y., Di, Y., Ye, J., & Wei, W. (2020). Study on the public psychological states and its related factors during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in some regions of China. Psychology, Health & Medicine. Advance online publication.
[11]	Hessami K, Romanelli C, Chiurazzi M, Cozzolino M. COVID-19 pandemic and maternal mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine 2020; 0: 1-8.
[12]	Liu CH, Erdei C, Mittal L. Risk factors for depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms in perinatal women during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Psychiatry Research 2021; 295: 113552.
[13]	Yousaf MA, Noreen M, Saleem T, Yousaf I. A Cross-Sectional Survey of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) Toward Pandemic COVID-19 Among the General Population of Jammu and Kashmir, India. Social Work in Public Health 2020; 35: 569-78.
[14]	Van Nhu H, Tuyet-Hanh TT, Van NTA, Linh TNQ, Tien TQ. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of the Vietnamese as Key Factors in Controlling COVID-19. J Community Health 2020; 45: 1263-9.
[15]	Rugarabamu S, Ibrahim M, Byanaku A. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19: A quick online cross-sectional survey among Tanzanian residents. Infectious Diseases (except HIV/AIDS); 2020.
[16]	Bates BR, Moncayo AL, Costales JA, Herrera-Cespedes CA, Grijalva MJ. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Towards COVID-19 Among Ecuadorians During the Outbreak: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey. J Community Health 2020; 45: 1158-67.
[17]	Akalu Y, Ayelign B, Molla MD. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Towards COVID-19 Among Chronic Disease Patients at Addis Zemen Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. IDR 2020; Volume 13: 1949-60.
[18]	El-Gilany A-H, El-Bastawesy S, Ali S. Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of rural population about COVID-19: a community-based study in Talkha District, Egypt 2020; 7: 525-32.
[19]	Azlan AA, Hamzah MR, Sern TJ, Ayub SH, Mohamad E. Public knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19: A cross-sectional study in Malaysia. PLoS ONE 2020; 15: e0233668.
[20]	Lau LL, Hung N, Go DJ, Ferma J, Choi M, Dodd W, et al. Knowledge, attitudes and practices of COVID-19 among income-poor households in the Philippines: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Global Health 2020; 10: 011007.
[21]	Adesegun OA, Binuyo T, Adeyemi O, Ehioghae O, Rabor DF, Amusan O, et al. The COVID-19 Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of the Nigerian Public. The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2020; 103: 1997-2004..
[22]	AltaybMousa KNA, Saad MMY, Tayseer Bashir Abdelghafor M. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices surrounding COVID-19 among Sudan citizens during the pandemic: an online cross-sectional study. Sudan JMS 2020: 32-45.
[23]	Mansuri FMA, Zalat MM, Khan AA, Alsaedi EQ, Ibrahim HM. Estimating the public response to mitigation measures and self-perceived behaviours towards the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences 2020; 15: 278-83.
[24]	Saleem MKM, Lal A. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Towards COVID-19 Among General Population of Karachi South: A Cross-Sectional Survey. J Dow Univ Health Sci 2020; 14.
[25]	Haque T, Hossain KM, BhuiyanMdMR, Ananna SA, HussainMdA, Islam MR, et al. Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards COVID-19 and assessment of risks of infection by SARS-CoV-2 among the Bangladeshi population: An online cross sectional survey. In Review; 2020.
[26]	Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, Woodland L, Wessely S, Greenberg N, et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet 2020; 395: 912-20.
[27]	Gao J, Zheng P, Jia Y, Chen H, Mao Y, Chen S, et al. Mental health problems and social media exposure during COVID-19 outbreak. PLoS ONE 2020; 15: e0231924.
[28]	Özdin S, BayrakÖzdin Ş. Levels and predictors of anxiety, depression and health anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkish society: The importance of gender. Int J Soc Psychiatry 2020; 66: 504-11.
[29]	Alexander JL, Dennerstein L, Kotz K, Richardson G. Women, anxiety and mood: a review of nomenclature, comorbidity and epidemiology. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics 2007; 7: S45-58.
[30]	Liang L, Ren H, Cao R, Hu Y, Qin Z, Li C, et al. The Effect of COVID-19 on Youth Mental Health. Psychiatr Q 2020; 91: 841-52.
[31]	Tan W, Hao F, McIntyre RS, Jiang L, Jiang X, Zhang L, et al. Is returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic stressful? A study on immediate mental health status and psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures of Chinese workforce. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity 2020; 87: 84-92.
[32]	Zhang C, Yang L, Liu S, Ma S, Wang Y, Cai Z, et al. Survey of Insomnia and Related Social Psychological Factors Among Medical Staff Involved in the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease Outbreak. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11: 306.