Evaluation of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of life among the Kuwaiti population - A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the lives of millions globally. Several interventions were implemented to control the spread of the disease. The precautions affected many aspects of peoples' lives including quality of life. The present study aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and preventive measures on the quality of life of the Kuwaiti population.

METHODS

A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted in 2021 in Kuwait. Two primary health centers were selected from the six health regions in Kuwait. Adult patients attending the selected centers were invited to fill a self-administered questionnaire that is composed of socio-demographic characteristics, COVID-19 infection history, and quality of life using the World Health Organization-Quality of Life sections. The higher the score, the better the quality of life.

RESULTS

A total of 505 participants were included with a mean age of 34.67 ± 13.8 years. Most participants were females (n = 309, 61.2%) and had a middle socio-economic status (n = 414, 82.0%). Approximately two-thirds of the participants had COVID-19 infection (64.4%, n = 325) and 88.4% (n = 419) received the COVID-19 vaccine. The overall median score of quality of life was 80 with social (75; 66.67-75) and environmental (75; 75-78.13) domains being the least affected by the pandemic, while the physical domain (64.29; 64.29-67.86) was the most affected domain. Participants who received the COVID-19 vaccine reported better quality of life particularly in social ( = 0.044) and environmental domains ( = 0.026).

CONCLUSION

COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of people's lives in Kuwait, especially the physical and psychological domains. Although preventive measures are inevitable to control the pandemics, policymakers should consider the impact of any preventive measure on people's quality of life in future pandemics.