Psychological Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Hungarian Adult Population

The aim of the study is to explore the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among Hungarian adults with the use of an anonymous online questionnaire that consists of 65 items. With these results it will possible to identify coping strategies that can help Hungarian adults to deal with the difficulties arising from the pandemic.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Coping Skills; Mood; COVID-19 Pandemic; Psychological Stress; Subjective Health Complaint; Questionnaire Designs; Two-Item Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale; Patient Health Questionnaire Anxiety and Depression Scale; Health Status Index

Detailed Description

Planned course of the project:

1. We make the questionnaire using Google Forms.
2. The link of the online questionnaire is sent to three public groups via the social media website Facebook.
3. By clicking on the sent link, all participants are able to read information about the project and about the consent to participate in it. Then the participant will be able to give consent to participate in the project. After giving consent, the participant will be able to start filling out the questionnaire. If the participant indicates that he/she does not want to give consent to the study, the website will indicate that the participation of him/her has ended in the project.
4. Anonymous answers will be automatically saved.
5. The participants will be given code numbers based on the order in which they filled out the questionnaire.
6. The data will be analysed by the researchers. For a participant, completing the online questionnaire takes approximately 10-15 minutes.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 441

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Hungary
  • Szeged, Hungary, 6720
    • University of Szeged Department of Dermatology and Allergology

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

adult Hungarian

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

The participant must have access to the internet and to the social media website Facebook.

Exclusion Criteria:

none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
sociodemopraphic factors	6 items - age, sex, city of residence, marital status, level of education, employment status	5 months
perceived stress	Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), 10 items about thoughts and feelings that characterize a person's perception of stress	5 months
level of anxiety	The General Anxiety Disorder Assessment GAD-2, 2 items to examine the level of anxiety	5 months
self-reported health state	EQ5D-VAS, 1 item to examine health status	5 months
number of complaints	Self-administered inventory of complaints (Hungarian questionnaire), 20 items to measure number of complaints.	5 months
strategies in coping with stressful situations	Shortened (Hungarian) version of the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOC), 22 items to measure cognitive or behavioral strategies in coping with stressful situations	5 months
psychological effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the participants' mood and ways of coping with difficulties arising from the pandemic	psychological effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the participants' mood and ways of coping with difficulties arising from the pandemic, 2 open-ended questions (not obligatory to answer) in connection with psychological effects of the coronavirus pandemic (its effects on the participants' mood and ways of coping with difficulties arising from the pandemic).	5 months
level of depression	The Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-2, 2 items to examine the level of depression	5 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Szeged University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lajos Kemény, Prof. Dr., University of Szeged, Department of Dermatology and Allergology

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, Ho RC. Immediate Psychological Responses and Associated Factors during the Initial Stage of the 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Epidemic among the General Population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Mar 6;17(5):1729. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17051729.
• Xiao C. A Novel Approach of Consultation on 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)-Related Psychological and Mental Problems: Structured Letter Therapy. Psychiatry Investig. 2020 Feb;17(2):175-176. doi: 10.30773/pi.2020.0047. Epub 2020 Feb 25. No abstract available.
• Ho CS, Chee CY, Ho RC. Mental Health Strategies to Combat the Psychological Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Beyond Paranoia and Panic. Ann Acad Med Singap. 2020 Mar 16;49(3):155-160. No abstract available.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 28, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): September 28, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 8, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 9, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): June 11, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 29, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 28, 2020
• Last Verified: June 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Lung Diseases; COVID-19; Anxiety Disorders; Stress, Psychological
• Other Study ID Numbers: PSZ-002

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No