Abstract

Sawazen Malik*, Ahmed Khalid, Ahmed Safwan, Mustafa Elobeid and Daffalla Alam Elhuda

Introduction: The 2019 Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is a public health emergency of international concern, this pandemic is generating stress throughout population and has many effects on the mental and psychological health of population according to recent researches from different countries; research data are needed to develop evidence based strategies to reduce the adverse effects during this pandemic.

Objective: The aim of this study was to reveal the psychosocial impact of Coronavirus quarantine on Sudanese population.

Methodology: This was a descriptive cross sectional community based study. The study was conducted in seven localities in Khartoum state using systematic random sampling techniques between the period of July-September 2020, data was entered into Microsoft excel and analyzed using SPSS v.26.

Results: 926 participants were involved, 59.6% were males and 40.4% were females. Mean age of participants was (31.98 ± 66.05 SD). The study revealed the poor adherence to quarantine and that 41.1% of participants had severe psychological distress, it also reported significant association with sex (Women are more vulnerable), marital status, financial burden and social support as a protective way against these disorders.

Conclusion: The study concluded that COVID-19 has a great impact on the psychosocial status of Sudanese and that good social support is one of the most protective ways against this impact.

Recommendations: This study suggested the need of approachable mental and psychosocial services during this pandemic, civil organizations contribution to raise the awareness among communities and implementation of safe social support groups considering the public health measures.