The Filipino family in a pandemic: A crosssectional study on the state of the household environment of COVID-19 patients in the Philippines / The Health Sciences Journal

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION@#Under COVID-19 guidelines, families are spending extended hours together within limited physical space, giving rise to a living situation that can bring families closer together and/or lead to conflicts. This study aimed to determine the current state of household cohesion and conflict among families with confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Philippines. @*METHODS@#This was a cross-sectional study using the COVID-19 Household Environment Scale (CHES) as a self-administered questionnaire among adult persons who belonged to households with at least one family member previously diagnosed or currently with COVID-19 in August and September 2021. Participants were recruited online using convenience and snowball sampling. The CHES is a 30-item tool which measures conflict and cohesion through the Conflict and Togetherness Subscales, respectively.@*RESULTS@#The composite median values of 386 participants surveyed reveal scores that were clustered to the left for the Conflict Subscale and neutrality for the Togetherness Subscale.@*CONCLUSION@#There is a general increase in household conflict and a non-significant change in togetherness among the surveyed families. The composite median values, if taken compoundly, imply the existence of more conflict and less togetherness.