Social and psychological impact of the containement during COVID-19 pandemic on patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases

ABSTRACT

Background: Covid-19 pandemic had a worldwide impact on the population, global economy and health care systems. Objectives: To evaluate the psychological state and social impact of patients with Chronic Inflammatory Rheumatic Diseases (CIRD) during this pandemic in order to understand how to optimize their quality of life. Methods: It's a cross-sectional survey, where the data were collected through the online survey tool google forms. A pilot test were conducted with the study committee members who analyzed the apparent validity of the questionnaire and identified issues that could lead to misunderstandings, and their suggestions were refined by a retest reliability until general agreement. The social and psychological impacts were evaluated by 14 questions exploring the different effects of the containment on negative feelings, interest in the family, changes in daily activities and plans, quality of sleep, practice of physical activity before and during containment, as well as the impact of the Coronavirus on psychological health. Statistical Analysis System IBM SPSS Statistics V20.0.0 was used to analyze the survey data. Results: 350 patients had participated in this online survey (mean age of 46,1 ± 14,4, 68% were women, 15.7% were illiterate, 45.7% were unemployed, rural residence in 11.7% of cases). Patients reported that their mental health has been negatively affected by Coronavirus in 59.1% of cases. Table 1 summarizes the psychological events during the containment. Patients reported that they paid more attention to their family in 87.1% during containment. Their daily lives and their life plans had changed because of Coronavirus(in 89.7% and 81.4%). Sleep during the pandemic has been negatively affected in 72.6% of patients. Physical activity practice had significantly decreased during containment (26.6% vs 51.7%) Conclusion: This study illustrates the social and psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on patients with CIRD. In the light of those results, we have lunched an awareness campaign to reinforce psychologic and social support of patients with CIRD during this global health crisis.