Psychological distress in people facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Northeastern Brazil

Maria Vieira de Lima Saintrain, Carina Bandeira Bezerra, Flaviano da Silva Santos, Ana Ofélia Portela Lima, Débora Rosana Alves Braga, Edla Helena Salles de Brito, Camila de Brito Pontes

COVID-19. Pandemic. SARS-CoV-2. Socioeconomic Factors. Psychosocial Aspects.

This cross-sectional study aimed to identify negative psychological symptoms related to loss of jobs and income in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2,983 people aged 18 and over living in the state of Ceará, Northeastern Brazil. Google® Forms was used to deliver an online questionnaire containing open- and closed-ended questions about sociodemographic characteristics and psychological symptoms. Absolute and relative frequencies were calculated for all the study variables. The Chi-squared test was used to check for association between the variables with a significance threshold of 5%. Psychological symptoms were observed in people who had lost their jobs or had their pay cut during the pandemic. Regarding the interference of social isolation with routine, 67.1% (658) of those who had lost their jobs or had their pay cut said their routine changed but they were able to adjust to the new reality (p<0.001). In addition, 67.7% (663) showed a feeling of concern in view of the difficulties arising from the pandemic (p<0.001), 57.9% (567) felt irritated by the situation they were experiencing (p<0.001), 74.2% (727) reported changes in sleep pattern (p<0.001) and 71.8% (704) reported feelings of restlessness, tension or nervousness (p<0.001). Furthermore, 50.3% (493) of the respondents reported physical symptoms without any apparent causes, whereas 41.4% (830) did not report such symptoms (p<0.001). Additionally, 52.9% (518) reported difficulty concentrating on daily activities or “blanking” while 44% (882) did not report such symptoms (p<0.001). After summing the negative feelings reported during the pandemic, we found a gradual increase in the percentage of symptoms in people who had lost their jobs or had their pay cut (p<0.001). Our findings allow an understanding of the psychosocial impact of financial losses caused by measures taken to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and can contribute to the development of strategies to minimize such impact.

Received: 11 Nov 2020; Received in revised form: 14 Jan 2021; Accepted: 22 Jan 2021; Available online: 06 Feb 2021

10.22161/ijaers.82.3