The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of Rohingya refugees with pre-existing health problems in Bangladesh

Table 3 Comparison of initial and follow-up RHS scores of participants before and after commencement of COVID-19 pandemic (n = 342)

Variable	RHS-15 Part I^a		p-value*	RHS-15 Part II^a		p-value*
	Pre-pandemic visit	During pandemic visit		Pre-pandemic visit	During pandemic visit
Total score	22.96 ± 8.43	46.72 ± 1.87	< 0.001	4.43 ± 1.59	6.91 ± 1.49	< 0.001
Age category
≤ 30	21.94 ± 8.33	46.57 ± 1.84	< 0.001	4.42 ± 1.59	6.89 ± 1.47	< 0.001
> 30	24.53 ± 8.35	46.97 ± 1.88	< 0.001	4.43 ± 1.59	6.94 ± 1.52	< 0.001
Sex
Female	22.71 ± 8.23	46.89 ± 1.74	< 0.001	4.51 ± 1.54	7.28 ± 1.40	< 0.001
Male	23.36 ± 8.74	46.45 ± 2.02	< 0.001	4.30 ± 1.67	6.30 ± 1.44	< 0.001
Marital status
Married	23.38 ± 8.29	46.76 ± 1.83	< 0.001	4.48 ± 1.48	6.91 ± 1.51	< 0.001
Single^b	21.85 ± 8.71	46.63 ± 1.95	< 0.001	4.29 ± 1.87	6.91 ± 1.45	< 0.001
HTN
Present	21.66 ± 8.29	46.63 ± 2.04	< 0.001	4.42 ± 1.38	7.15 ± 1.42	< 0.001
Absent	23.52 ± 8.44	46.77 ± 1.79	< 0.001	4.43 ± 1.68	6.81 ± 1.51	< 0.001
BA
Present	22.65 ± 8.91	47.00 ± 1.73	< 0.001	4.06 ± 1.99	6.74 ± 1.59	< 0.001
Absent	22.99 ± 8.39	46.70 ± 1.87	< 0.001	4.46 ± 1.55	6.93 ± 1.48	< 0.001
IHD
Present	25.40 ± 6.94	46.31 ± 2.21	< 0.001	4.24 ± 1.72	6.79 ± 1.37	< 0.001
Absent	22.62 ± 8.57	46.79 ± 1.81	< 0.001	4.45 ± 1.58	6.93 ± 1.51	< 0.001
COPD
Present	23.14 ± 7.71	46.64 ± 1.70	< 0.001	4.57 ± 1.91	6.43 ± 1.69	< 0.001
Absent	22.95 ± 8.49	46.74 ± 1.88	< 0.001	4.41 ± 1.57	6.95 ± 1.47	< 0.001
DM
Present	26.70 ± 4.90	47.40 ± 1.14	< 0.001	4.50 ± 0.82	7.90 ± 0.96	< 0.001
Absent	22.73 ± 8.56	46.69 ± 1.89	< 0.001	4.42 ± 1.63	6.85 ± 1.49	< 0.001

RHS- Refugee Health Screener; HTN: Hypertension; BA: Bronchial Asthma; IHD: Ischemic Heart Disease; COPD: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease; DM: Diabetes Mellitus
^aRHS-15 part I consists of items 1–14 and part II consists of item 15
^bIncluding unmarried, divorced and widowed
^*p value estimated by paired sample t-test
p value < 0.05 considered statistically significant

ISSN: 1752-1505