Psychological and social impact of COVID-19 in Pakistan: Need for Gender Responsive Policies | medRxiv preprints (not peer reviewed)

Type Journal Article Author Fauziah Rabbani Author Hyder Ali Khan Author Suneel Piryani Author Areeba Raza Khan Author Fahad Abid URL https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.28.20221069v1 Rights © 2020, Posted by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. This pre-print is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NoDerivs 4.0 International), CC BY-ND 4.0, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/ Pages 2020.10.28.20221069 Publication medRxiv Date 01/11/2020 Extra Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press DOI 10.1101/2020.10.28.20221069 Library Catalog www.medrxiv.org Language en Abstract BACKGROUND COVID-19 has rapidly crossed borders, infecting people throughout the world. Women may be especially vulnerable to depression and anxiety due to the pandemic, AIMS This study attempted to assess how gender impacts risk perceptions, anxiety levels behavioral responses to the COVID 19 pandemic in Pakistan in order to recommend gender responsive health policies METHODS A cross-sectional online survey was conducted. Participants were asked to complete a sociodemographic data form, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and questions on their risk perceptions, preventive behavior and information exposure. Regression analysis was used to assess effects of factors such as age, gender and household income on anxiety levels. RESULTS Of the 1390 respondents, 478 were women, and 913 were men. Women considered their chances of survival to be relatively lower than men (59 % women vs 73% men). They were also more anxious (62% women vs 50% men), and more likely to adopt precautionary behavior, such as avoiding going to the hospital (78% women vs. 71% men), not going to work (72% women and 57% men), and using disinfectants (93% women and 86% men). Men were more likely to trust friends, family and social media as reliable sources of COVID-19 information, while women were more likely to trust doctors. CONCLUSION Women experience a disproportion burden of the psychological and social impact of the pandemic compared to men. Involving doctors in healthcare communication targeting women, might prove effective. Social media and radio programs may be effective in disseminating information related to COVID among men. Short Title Psychological and social impact of COVID-19 in Pakistan