<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Objectives</h3><p>To conduct a pilot study on the lived experiences of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on affected people.</p></sec><sec><h3>Methods</h3><p>This mixed methods study used random and snowball techniques to recruit 91 respondents (age range 18–58 years) from 14 countries. Accessing patients with COVID-19 was restricted because of the nature of the disease and the treatment they were receiving which limited their access to being selected for our pilot study. Therefore, our respondents were members of the general population who were directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic. Respondents completed online surveys consisting of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and open-ended questions. Collected data were subjected to IBM SPSS statistics software (v. 22.0) and thematic analysis.</p></sec><sec><h3>Results</h3><p>Both quantitative and qualitative instruments reported very high feasibility, which is suggestive of an excellent feasibility of our mixed methods design. Second, we identified financial and time resources as major barriers to the recruitment process, and how to avert these in the main study was discussed. Third, COVID-19 pandemic had more anxious than depressive impacts on our respondents. We also found that more than half (58, 63.7%) of the total respondents showed high knowledge level of COVID-19, and the major sources from which they gained knowledge were television, radio, and online academic papers. Our qualitative insight showed five themes from the lived experiences of respondents from the COVID-19 pandemic. These themes were; changes in lifestyles, disruption of schooling activities, impact on options for health services, disruption of works and economy, and anxious and worrisome impacts, in that order.</p></sec><sec><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>Main study is feasible with minor addition required on our protocol. Given other findings, we recommend the need for adaptive coping skill training, and appropriate information sharing during pandemics. There is also the need for psychosocial preparation due to the uncertainty of pandemics. In addition, averting the likely adverse economic impacts from pandemics should be of concern to governments and other stakeholders during pandemics. Finally, we recommend that governments and other stakeholders should be cautious about the likelihood of limited health service options for the general public during pandemics.</p></sec></abstract>

ObjectivesTo conduct a pilot study on the lived experiences of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on affected people.MethodsThis mixed methods study used random and snowball techniques to recruit 91 respondents (age range 18–58 years) from 14 countries. Accessing patients with COVID-19 was restricted because of the nature of the disease and the treatment they were receiving which limited their access to being selected for our pilot study. Therefore, our respondents were members of the general population who were directly or indirectly affected by the pandemic. Respondents completed online surveys consisting of the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9) and open-ended questions. Collected data were subjected to IBM SPSS statistics software (v. 22.0) and thematic analysis.ResultsBoth quantitative and qualitative instruments reported very high feasibility, which is suggestive of an excellent feasibility of our mixed methods design. Second, we identified financial and time resources as major barriers to the recruitment process, and how to avert these in the main study was discussed. Third, COVID-19 pandemic had more anxious than depressive impacts on our respondents. We also found that more than half (58, 63.7%) of the total respondents showed high knowledge level of COVID-19, and the major sources from which they gained knowledge were television, radio, and online academic papers. Our qualitative insight showed five themes from the lived experiences of respondents from the COVID-19 pandemic. These themes were; changes in lifestyles, disruption of schooling activities, impact on options for health services, disruption of works and economy, and anxious and worrisome impacts, in that order.ConclusionMain study is feasible with minor addition required on our protocol. Given other findings, we recommend the need for adaptive coping skill training, and appropriate information sharing during pandemics. There is also the need for psychosocial preparation due to the uncertainty of pandemics. In addition, averting the likely adverse economic impacts from pandemics should be of concern to governments and other stakeholders during pandemics. Finally, we recommend that governments and other stakeholders should be cautious about the likelihood of limited health service options for the general public during pandemics.

A Multinational Pilot Study on the Lived Experiences and Mental Health Impacts from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Global Psychiatry

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

ObjectivesTo conduct a pilot study on the lived experiences of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic...

Total score	Freq.	%
0	14	15.4
1	9	9.9
2	10	11.0
3	10	11.0
4	8	8.8
5	4	4.4
6	5	5.5
7	1	1.1
8	5	5.5
9	2	2.2
10	4	4.4
11	3	3.3
12	4	4.4
13	3	3.3
15	3	3.3
16	2	2.2
20	2	2.2
21	2	2.2

Total score	Freq.	%
0	14	15.4
1	5	5.5
2	10	11.0
3	5	5.5
4	9	9.9
5	7	7.7
6	3	3.3
7	8	8.8
8	4	4.4
9	5	5.5
10	4	4.4
12	4	4.4
13	3	3.3
14	1	1.1
15	1	1.1
18	2	2.2
19	3	3.3
21	1	1.1
22	1	1.1
25	1	1.1

	n	%
Gender
Male	33	36.3
Female	58	63.7
Highest education attained
High school	13	14.3
Tertiary institution	78	85.7
Religion
Christianity	41	45.1
Islam	9	9.9
Other religion/no religion	41	45.1
Employment status
Unemployed	39	42.9
Employed	52	57.1
Country
China	11	12.1
Finland	3	3.3
France	10	11.0
Germany	1	1.1
Kenya	1	1.1
Malaysia	4	4.4
The Netherlands	3	3.3
Nigeria	11	12.1
Norway	6	6.6
Pakistan	3	3.3
Singapore	10	11.0
United Arab Emirates	7	7.7
UK	11	12.1
USA	10	11.0

Total score	Freq.	%
0	33	36.3
1	43	47.3
2	12	13.2
3	3	3.3

Scale	Mean	SD	α
GAD-7	6	5.54	0.90
PHQ-9	6.4	5.84	0.88

A Multinational Pilot Study on the Lived Experiences and Mental Health Impacts from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published Online: Jul 05, 2020

Page range: -

Received: May 09, 2020

Accepted: May 30, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/gp-2020-0015

Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, Pilot study, Mixed methods design

© 2020 Okoloba, M. Maia et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Summary of respondents’ knowledge of COVID-19 What do you know about COVID-19? Please, freely expand your responses.

Distribution of respondents by total score on the GAD-7 scale

Distribution of respondents by total score on the PHQ-9 scale

Demographic profile of respondents

Distribution of respondents by total score on the supplementary single-item scale

Descriptive statistics and Cronbach’s alpha scale

A Multinational Pilot Study on the Lived Experiences and Mental Health Impacts from the COVID-19 Pandemic

Published Online: Jul 05, 2020

Page range: -

Received: May 09, 2020

Accepted: May 30, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/gp-2020-0015

KeywordsCOVID-19 pandemic, Pilot study, Mixed methods design

© 2020 Okoloba, M. Maia et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Summary of respondents’ knowledge of COVID-19 What do you know about COVID-19? Please, freely expand your responses.

Distribution of respondents by total score on the GAD-7 scale

Distribution of respondents by total score on the PHQ-9 scale

Demographic profile of respondents

Distribution of respondents by total score on the supplementary single-item scale

Descriptive statistics and Cronbach’s alpha scale

Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, Pilot study, Mixed methods design