Psychosocial impact of COVID-19 self-isolation on the Brazilian population: a preliminary cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

This is a quantitative, descriptive, and analytical study of the Brazilian population in social isolation (SI) during the novel coronavirus pandemic whose aim was to identify predictive factors for psychosocial stress using data collected by a social media-based online questionnaire administered in April 2020. Among the 3,836 participants, most were women (2,821; 73.5%), aged from 30 to 39 years (1,101; 28.7%), with postgraduate education (2,075;54.1%), and in SI (3,447; 89.9%). We found significant differences between individuals who were in SI and those who were not regarding: feeling afraid of being infected by the coronavirus (p<0.001) and worried if someone had to leave the house (p<0.001); changes in routine after self-isolating in those who managed to adapt to the new reality compared to those who could not adapt (p<0.001); feeling sad and worried while doing other activities, such as physical exercise, religious practices, or recreational activities (p<0.001); inability to imagine a solution to this problem (p<0.001), and changes in sleep pattern (p=0.006). Our findings indicate the need for further discussions about the social determinants of health, addressing not only the disease per se, but also social relations, cultural manifestations, and the economy, which may impact people’s mental health.