Coping with COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population-Based Study in Bangladesh

  1. K M Amran Hossain
  2. Karen Saunders
  3. Mohamed Sakel
  4. Lori Maria Walton
  5. Veena Raigangar
  6. Zakir Uddin
  7. Mohammad Anwar Hossain
  8. Asma Islam
  9. Faruq Ahmed
  10. Rafey Faruqui
  11. Tamanna Tasnim
  12. Shohag Rana
  13. Rubayet Shafin
  14. Md. Shahoriar Ahmed
  15. Md. Obaidul Haque
  16. Md. Feroz Kabir
  17. Mohammad Sohrab Hossain
  18. Iqbal Kabir Jahid
  19. Mst. Hosneara Yasmin
  20. Sonjit Kumar Chakrovorty
  21. Md. Shahadat Hossain
  22. Joty Paul

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate coping strategies used by Bangladeshi citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design

Prospective, cross-sectional survey of adults (N=2001) living in Bangladesh.

Methods

Participants were interviewed for socio-demographic data and completed the Bengali translated Brief-COPE Inventory. Statistical data analysis was conducted using SPSS (Version 20).

Results

Participants (N=2001), aged 18 to 86 years, were recruited from eight administrative divisions within Bangladesh (mean age 31.85±14.2 years). Male to female participant ratio was 53.4% (n=1074) to 46.6% (n=927). Higher scores were reported for approach coping styles (29.83±8.9), with lower scores reported for avoidant coping styles (20.83 ± 6.05). Humor coping scores were reported at 2.68±1.3 and religion coping scores at 5.64±1.8. Both men and women showed similar coping styles. Multivariate analysis found a significant relationship between male gender and both humor and avoidant coping (p <.01). Male gender was found to be inversely related to both religion and approach coping (p <.01). Marital status and education were significantly related to all coping style domains (p<.01). Occupation was significantly related to approach coping (p <.01). Rural and urban locations differed significantly in participant coping styles (p <.01). Factor analysis revealed two cluster groups (Factor 1 and 2) comprised of unique combinations from all coping style domains.

Conclusion

Participants in this study coped with the COVID-19 pandemic by utilizing a combination of coping strategies. Factor 1 revealed both avoidant and approach coping strategies and Factor 2 revealed a combination of humor and avoidant coping strategies. Overall, a higher utilization of approach coping strategies was reported, which has previously been associated with better physical and mental health outcomes. Religion was found to be a coping strategy for all participants. Future research may focus on understanding resilience in vulnerable populations, including people with disability or with migrant or refugee status in Bangladesh.

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    SciScore for 10.1101/2021.03.30.21254632: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board StatementIRB: Ethical Permission: Ethical permission was obtained from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Institute of Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation, and Research of Bangladesh Physiotherapy Association on the June 4, 2020 (BPA-IPRR/IRB/04/06/2020/068).
    Consent: All participants were given verbal briefs on the study objectives and voluntary written consent was obtained prior to data collection.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableStudy Design: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study of adult men and women, across 8 regions in Bangladesh.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    We used the Statistical Package software for Social Science, SPSS Version 20.0, for this study.
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    One limitation of our study is that the Brief-COPE is a self-report measurement tool and, though highly valid and reliable for major domain areas such as Avoidance, Approach, Humor and Religion, some of the individual subscales show lower internal consistency, when considered in a separate analysis. However, for this sample and the report of the four domains avoidance, approach, humor and religion the validity of the instrument is considered reasonable and acceptable. This study also overcame the barriers to extensive data collection within a short period of time by training skilled rehabilitation data collectors, who lived in the local regions to conduct the face-to-face interviews for all participating respondents. Another limitation of the study is the lack of pre-pandemic coping strategy data to compare the overall effect of COVID-19 on coping strategy changes over time. Furthermore, examination of specific detailed strategies of coping, particularly related to religious coping, would further clarify meaning, both positive and negative strategies, in the context of a major infectious disease threat. Future research would be improved by gaining more understanding of the concept of resilience, while including consideration of how people with disability, [48] refugees, [49] migrant workers, and other marginalized populations cope with adversities caused by the pandemic. This research could also include the role of traditional and local healing medicine as they relate to reli...

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

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  2. Version published to 10.1101/2021.03.30.21254632v1 on medRxiv