Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic Toward Knowledge, Stress, Mental Health, Self-Care Behaviors and Quality of Life Among Elderly Patients with Non-Communicable Diseases Chiang Rai Province
Abstract:
The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to look into the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on the knowledge, stress, mental health, self-care behaviors, and quality of life of elderly people with noncommunicable diseases in Chiang Rai province. The PRECEDE - PROCEED MODEL was used in this study to define the following factors: (1) Predisposing factors such as gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupation, income adequacy, smoking, alcohol consumption, knowledge, stress, and mental health. (2) Enabling factors include health status, access to public health services, and quality of life. (3) Reinforcing factors include caregivers, access to health information, and self-care behaviors. The study included 450 elderly people who were diagnosed with chronic noncommunicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, stroke, and chronic kidney disease. Data collection was done from interviews using questionnaires. The instruments used in the research were interviews: the Stress Scale (SPST-20), the Mental Health Problem Screening Questionnaire (GHQ -28), the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Scale (WHOQOL BREF THAI) and self-care behaviors. Data was collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics, and correlation was tested using Univariable analysis, Simple Regression, and the Pearson correlation coefficient. According to the findings of the predisposing factors study, covid-19 knowledge, stress, and mental health were statistically related to self-care behaviors (p-value 0.01), and alcohol use was related to quality of life (p-value 0.05). In terms of enabling factors, the number of chronic diseases and COVID-19 testing were found to be negatively correlated with self-care behaviors (p-value 0.05). Complications variables showed that those with diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia were positively correlated with self-care behaviors (p-value < 0.05). In terms of reinforcing factors, it was discovered that information received was related to self-care behavior (p-value 0.05), and self-care behaviors were significantly related to elderly quality of life (p-value 0.01). The discussion emphasized the importance of COVID-19 knowledge and self-care behaviors on the elderly, as well as improving the quality of life of the elderly with noncommunicable diseases during the COVID-19 outbreak. Moreover, during the epidemic, there was a high rate of stress and mental health problems among the elderly. The intervention focuses on health education programs for the elderly suffering from noncommunicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and heart disease.