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Abstract
Background
COVID-19 has spread globally, with 110,974,862 confirmed cases and 2,460,792 deaths worldwide. Many studies have demonstrated the impact of infectious disease outbreaks on psychological problems. It seems indispensable to understand the effects of pandemic situation especially in students population. We conducted this study to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown on health science students well-being.
Methods
Students from two major health science universities of Lithuania were asked to fill out a form consisting of 19 questions aimed to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic and students emotional feelings (stress, anxiety, depression) related to this effect. Independent sample t-test was performed to evaluate the difference of means of scores between males and females.
Results
Total of 1545 students filled out the form, of which 84.9% (n = 1311) were female. Females experienced greater negative effect of pandemic situation on their family relationships (t = 2.16, p = 0.03), education process (t = 2.33, p = 0.02) and belief in future (t = 4.49, p < 0.001). Female students also experienced more negative emotional feelings associated with stress, anxiety and depression on friendships (t = 2.92, p = 0.004), family relationship (t = 3.7, p < 0.001), their health (t = 3.97, p < 0.001), education process (t = 3.98, p < 0.001) and belief in future (t = 5.7, p < 0.001).
Conclusion
Female health science students, differently than males, experience greater negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown and more negative emotional feelings, such as stress, anxiety and depression, related to it and their well-being.