Publication:

Effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the psycho-socioeconomic health of families in Enugu metropolis, Enugu state

Background The aggressive COVID-19 restrictive mitigation measures of lockdown by nations are with consequent effects on the populations. This study aimed to assess the psychological and socio-economic effects of COVID-19 lockdown among families in Enugu metropolis, Enugu state, Nigeria.

Methods This was a cross sectional descriptive study of 409 household heads in Enugu metropolis. Data were analyzed using IBM statistical package 23.0 and test of significance set at 0.05.

Results The mean age of respondents was 37.2±8.7 years. Majority, 83.1% were restricted in movement. Stress (5.9%) and sexual abuse (6.5%) were noted psychological effects. About 44.3% were not satisfied with life, basic social services of market (34.2%), banking (23.5%) and educational services (9.3%). Also 44.5% were not satisfied with their economic situation as 35.2% had their working conditions affected, 30.3% complain of price increase and 20.0% had restriction to basic needs. Coping strategies adopted were reduced food ration (27.9%), low wages (22.5%) and sale of assets (6.8%).

Conclusions The psychological and socio-economic effects of COVID-19 lockdown significantly affected quality of life. Population will benefit from economic subsidies, psychotherapy and information, communication and technology (ICT) skills for learning and working from home.