Factors Influencing Mental Health Status of Residents in U-thong District, Suphanburi Province during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: As with other countries across the globe, Thailand has experienced a serious pandemic of the corona virus disease 2019 (Covid-19). Adherence to the public health recommendations plays a role in tackling a crisis of this outbreak which is affected by knowledge, attitudes, and preventive practice (KAP) towards Covid-19. As a result, mental health status of individuals would be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Aims: The study assessed KAP towards Covid-19 and to explore the associations between socio-demographic variables, KAP towards Covid-19 and mental health status (anxiety, and fear related Covid-19) of Thai individuals in U-thong district during Covid-19 pandemic. The predictors of mental health status were also examined.

Methods: This predictive study was conducted using Google forms, via Line application. A set of questionnaires was used to collect data including the KAP questionnaire (16 items), the Corona virus Anxiety Scale (5 items), and the Fear of Covid-19 Scale (7 items). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Pearson Product Moment Correlation, and multiple regression analysis. A significance level was set at p<0.05.

Findings: A total of 445 participants completed the questionnaires. Most of the participants were between the ages of 30-49 years, and 46% earned a bachelor’s degree. Participants had an adequate and good level of knowledge about Covid-19. Regarding attitude towards Covid-19, 80.70% of the participants were confident that Thailand can win the battle against Covid-19 virus and 83.40% had confidence that Covid-19 will be successfully controlled. Most participants (98.70%) followed correct practices regarding Covid-19 prevention (wearing a face mask when leaving home and avoiding crowded places). Mental health status average score was 36.21 (SD=9.05), with average score of anxiety was 4.26 (SD=3.33), and average score of fear of Covid-19 was 8.42 (SD=3.43).Education and KAP towards Covid-19 were significantly related to mental health status (r =0.08, p<.05; r=0.16, p<.01, respectively). Education and KAP towards Covid-19 were significant predictors of mental health status. Results of multiple regression analysis showed that education and KAP towards Covid-19 together explained 4.5% (R²=0.045) of the variance in mental health status.

Conclusion: The participants reported good mental health status, with no anxiety and no fear of Covid-19. Education level, KAP towards Covid-19 influenced mental health status among participants.

Recommendations: These findings provide valuable information for health professions. These findings would be useful to improving people’s knowledge and fostering optimistic attitude towards COVID-19 prevention leading to improving mental health outcomes.