Perceived stress, hardship, and self-reported health status of persons living with diabetes mellitus during Coronavirus Disease-19 pandemic and lockdown: A descriptive study

Introduction: Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent complete lockdown have resulted in a lot of difficulties in availing essential services including medical care, especially among the persons living with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). The situation was complicated by stress and fear due to unknown nature of the pandemic during initial phases. This study aimed at measuring the perceived stress and hardship faced by persons living with DM and assessing their health status during COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown in a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal. Materials and Methods: An institution-based, cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted among diagnosed cases of Type 2 DM attending diabetic clinic outpatient department using an interview technique with the help of a predesigned pretested questionnaire that consisted of variables such as perpetual and experiential stress, hardship, and selected self-reported health parameters. Results: Out of a total of 304 study participants, majority responded positively regarding the items of perpetual and experiential stress. However, 80.8% of participants reported the reduction of income, and about 75% of them faced hardship of various extent to manage medicine and diet with low income. Only 9.1% of participants used teleconsultation as a sole method for health checkups. About one-third of participants considered their mental health status as poor or very poor, whereas two-third considered their physical health as good or excellent. Conclusion: Although our study participants did not have much stress or deterioration of health during lockdown, their income and regular care were affected to a certain extent. This emphasizes the need for context-specific measures.