Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022;60(Suppl 1):58-64.
Epub 2022 Apr 9.

Mental wellbeing during the time of COVID-19 pandemic: A national pilot survey in Ethiopia

Bethelhem Fekadu  1 , Medhin Selamu  1   2 , Eyerusalem Getachew  1 , Hanna Negussie  1 , Sewit Timothewos  1 , Winini Belay  1 , Abigiya Wondimagegnehu  3   4 , Tigist Eshetu  1 , Tigest Ajeme  1 , Kehabtimer Shiferaw  3 , Tsegahun Manyazewal  1 , Abebaw Fekadu  1   2   5 , Girmay Medhin  1   6 , Charlotte Hanlon  1   2   7
Affiliations

Mental wellbeing during the time of COVID-19 pandemic: A national pilot survey in Ethiopia

Bethelhem Fekadu et al. Ethiop Med J. 2022.

Abstract

Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic substantially disrupts population health and wellbeing globally, while little is known about the effect on mental wellbeing in developing countries. This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on mental wellbeing of individuals and households in Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross-sectional, national pilot survey was conducted through phone interviews from September to November 2021. Mental wellbeing and disability were assessed using a questionnaire adapted from the 5-item World Health Organization Wellbeing Index (WHO-5), the Oslo Social Support Scale (OSSS-3), and the WHO Disability Assessment Scale (WHODAS 2.0).

Results: A total of 614 adults completed the pilot survey. The mean age was 36 years (standard deviation 11) and 71.7% were male. Mental wellbeing was poor in 218 (35.5%) participants. The most important predictors for poor mental wellbeing were rural residence (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 1.89; 95% CI 1.14, 3.14; p=0.012), perceived COVID-19 risk (AOR 1.75; 95% CI 1.18, 2.60; p=0.005), household stress (AOR 2.09; 95% CI 1.31, 3.34; p=0.002), experience of symptom of COVID-19 in the household (AOR 2.14; 95% CI 1.13, 4.04; p=0.019), and poor social support (AOR 2.43; 95% CI 1.51, 3.91; p<0.001).

Conclusion: The study provides evidence that COVID-19 had a significant adverse impact on the mental wellbeing of individuals and households in Ethiopia. Further studies are needed to understand in detail the implications of the pandemic and interventions needed to keep mental wellbing of citizens.

Keywords: COVID-19; Ethiopia; disability; mental health; mental wellbeing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Saladino V, Algeri D, Auriemma V. The psychological and social impact of Covid-19: new perspectives of well-being. Frontiers in psychology. 2020;11:2550. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Organization WH. Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak, 18 March 2020. World Health Organization, 2020.
    1. Ali I, Alharbi OM. COVID-19: Disease, management, treatment, and social impact. Science of the total Environment. 2020;728:138861. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cheung Y, Chau PH, Yip PS. A revisit on older adults suicides and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Hong Kong. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry: A journal of the psychiatry of late life and allied sciences. 2008;23(12):1231–8. - PubMed
    1. Yip PS, Cheung Y, Chau PH, Law Y. The impact of epidemic outbreak. Crisis. 2010. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources