Physical, Psychosocial, and Economic Burden of COVID-19 Disease: A Cross-sectional Study among Adult Population in an Urban Community of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India

Abstract

Introduction: It has been observed that the symptoms and clinical sequelae of COVID-19 disease may develop and persist far beyond the initial illness, but there are limited data documenting this. The present study is planned to find out the physical, psychosocial, and economic burden of COVID-19 disease among the adult population in an urban community. Materials and Methods: This was a community-based, observational, cross-sectional study conducted among 106 adult individuals, who tested COVID-19 positive by rapid antigen test/reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction between May 21 and October 21, residing in North Dum Dum municipality, N 24 Parganas. A predesigned pretested validated questionnaire was used to assess the physical and social burden of the disease by health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaire, psychological burden by the Perceived Stress Scale, and economic burden in terms of the direct and indirect cost of care, job lost, reduction of income, and cost-cutting measures applied to daily life. Results: More than one-third of the study population had HRQoL compromised for almost 1/3 of the past month. The perceived stress was found out to be significantly associated (P < 0.05) with the severity of the disease. The reported median (interquartile range [IQR]) of the direct cost of care for COVID-19 disease was 7000.0 (4000.0–12,000.0) INR, whereas the median (IQR) indirect cost of care was 1250.0 (0–5000.0) INR. C onclusion: The severity of COVID-19 has a great impact on HRQoL, perceived, and economic burden of the disease.