Health-related quality of life and mental well-being of healthy and diseased persons in 8 countries: Does stringency of government response against early COVID-19 matter?

Authors

• Di Long, Erasmus University of Rotterdam
• Juanita A. Haagsma, Erasmus University of Rotterdam
• Mathieu F. Janssen, Erasmus University of Rotterdam
• John N. Yfantopoulos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
• Erica I. Lubetkin, CUNY School of MedicineFollow
• Gouke J. Bonsel, Erasmus University of Rotterdam

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2021

Abstract

Objectives

Our study aimed to (1) assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental well-being of healthy and diseased persons in the general population during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) examine the relationship between HRQoL and mental well-being and individual characteristics and government response against COVID-19, as measured by the stringency index.

Methods

A web-based survey was administered to a cohort of persons from the general population of eight countries: Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (US) from April 22 to May 5 and May 26 to June 1, 2020. Country-level stringency indices were adopted from the COVID-19 Government Response Tracker. Primary outcomes were HRQoL, measured using the EQ-5D-5L, and mental well-being, measured using the World Health Organization-5 Well-Being (WHO-5).

Findings

21,354 respondents were included in the study. Diseased respondents had lower EQ-5D-5L and WHO-5 scores compared to healthy respondents. Younger respondents had lower WHO-5 scores than older respondents. The stringency index had a stronger association with the EQ-5D-5L and WHO-5 among diseased respondents compared to healthy respondents. Increasing stringency was associated with an increase in EQ-5D-5L scores but a decrease in the WHO-5 index.

Conclusion

The stringency of government response is inversely related to HRQoL and mental well-being with a small positive relation with HRQoL and strong negative relation with mental well-being. The magnitude of effects differed for healthy and diseased persons and by age but was most favourable for diseased and older persons.

Comments

This article was originally published in SSM - Population Health, available at doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2021.100913

Recommended Citation

Long, Di; Haagsma, Juanita A.; Janssen, Mathieu F.; Yfantopoulos, John N.; Lubetkin, Erica I.; and Bonsel, Gouke J., "Health-related quality of life and mental well-being of healthy and diseased persons in 8 countries: Does stringency of government response against early COVID-19 matter?" (2021). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cm_pubs/24