Psycho-social impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in developing countries: a scoping review

Abstract

Background/Objectives: One of the recent pandemics that has ravaged the world is thecoronavirus popularly known as COVID-19, which is a large family of viruses known to cause illnessesranging from the common cold to acute respiratory tract infection. There is no doubt that the fear ofCOVID-19 pandemic with its resultant lockdown effects on the social environment may impact thepsycho-social health or well-being of individuals, communities or societies, with variations on regionalor country-specific geographic. This paper examined views, reports and experiences from developingcountries considering that the definition of pandemics takes a geographic perspective. The paperexamined the typologies of psycho-social impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of theresearch was to conduct a scoping literature review of the psycho-social impacts of COVID-19pandemic in developing countries of the world. Design/Method: This study was a scoping review of therelated literature review conducted using search engines to review grey and published literature. Results:A total of 1,236 articles that discussed COVID-19 were retrieved, out of which 1,197 were excludedbased on the predetermined criteria. Only 39 articles met the inclusion criteria, focusing on psychosocialimpact studies that were conducted in developing countries. COVID-19 pandemic accompaniedby a partial or total lockdown instigated psycho-social disorders across in thirty (31) developingcountries. The following 17 typologies/dimensions of psycho-social disorder due to COVID-19 wereidentified: Sleeping problems, depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, frustration, psychosomaticdisorders, loneliness, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, fear, worry, aggression, post-traumatic stressdisorder, confusion, stigmatization and discrimination, helplessness, irritability and denial. Conclusion:COVID-19 is a global problem that came as a shock to the entire world. Many protocols were reeled outto prevent the continuous spread of the pandemic. The protocols and the pandemic itself came withenormous psycho-social problems, many of which have been reviewed in this piece. COVID-19 causeda lot of psycho-social consequences or disorders among individuals and households.Governments shouldintegrate psycho-social support interventions in the COVID-19 health packages.Keywords:, Anxiety; COVID-19; Depression; Insomnia; Psycho-social impact