COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional study
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting containment measures had and still have a profound impact on everyday life. Both the fear of infection and the imposed restrictions can have biopsychosocial consequences. The aim of the present study was to analyze whethe...
| Auteurs principaux: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Langue: | English |
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SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)
2021-11-01
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| Collection: | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| Accès en ligne: | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3105 |
| _version_ | 1826995590897074176 |
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| author | Bettina Bringolf-Isler Johanna Hänggi Bengt Kayser L. Suzanne Suggs Alain Dössegger Nicole Probst-Hensch |
| author_facet | Bettina Bringolf-Isler Johanna Hänggi Bengt Kayser L. Suzanne Suggs Alain Dössegger Nicole Probst-Hensch |
| author_sort | Bettina Bringolf-Isler |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting containment measures had and still have a profound impact on everyday life. Both the fear of infection and the imposed restrictions can have biopsychosocial consequences. The aim of the present study was to analyze whether there is a difference in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of primary school children in 2014/15 compared to in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
METHODS: The present study included 1,712 children aged 5 to 11 years who either participated in the baseline assessment of the SOPHYA cohort study in 2014/15 or were newly recruited during follow-up of the cohort in 2020. In both surveys, the children invited for participation were identified based on registry data. HRQoL was assessed with the validated KINDL-R questionnaire, which scores HRQoL along six different dimensions.
RESULTS: The overall scores (82.4 [81.8; 83.0] vs. 79.6 [79,1; 80.2]), and in particular the emotional well-being scores (85.6 [84.6; 86.6] vs. 83.3 [82.4; 84.2]), were lower during the year of the pandemic (2020) compared to the survey year 2014/15. The highest decrease between 2014/15 and 2020 in the adjusted models was seen for the youngest age group (–3.9 points), followed by children from families with a high income (–3.2 points), girls (–3.1 points), Swiss citizens (–3.1 points) and children from the German-speaking part of Switzerland (–3.1 points). HRQoL was particularly low during periods with restrictions and at the height of the COVID-19 waves in 2020.
CONCLUSION: The SOPHYA-study showed that HRQoL, and especially emotional well-being, was lower in 5 to 11-year-old children in Switzerland during the first year of the pandemic compared to the results from the survey conducted in 2014/15. In the year of the pandemic, the scores were lowest at the height of the COVID-19 waves and their associated restrictions. As it cannot be distinguished whether fear of the disease itself or the restrictions caused this decrease in HRQoL, containment policies should keep COVID-19 infections as low as possible, but still enable children to profit from protective factors such as leisure activities, physical activity and social contact.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T04:27:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c99fdf77eac9433e8d0dde41058b5280 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-3997 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-02-18T09:35:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021-11-01 |
| publisher | SMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Swiss Medical Weekly |
| spelling | doaj.art-c99fdf77eac9433e8d0dde41058b52802024-11-02T17:49:17ZengSMW supporting association (Trägerverein Swiss Medical Weekly SMW)Swiss Medical Weekly1424-39972021-11-01151454610.4414/SMW.2021.w30071COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional studyBettina Bringolf-IslerJohanna HänggiBengt KayserL. Suzanne SuggsAlain DösseggerNicole Probst-Hensch BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting containment measures had and still have a profound impact on everyday life. Both the fear of infection and the imposed restrictions can have biopsychosocial consequences. The aim of the present study was to analyze whether there is a difference in the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of primary school children in 2014/15 compared to in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: The present study included 1,712 children aged 5 to 11 years who either participated in the baseline assessment of the SOPHYA cohort study in 2014/15 or were newly recruited during follow-up of the cohort in 2020. In both surveys, the children invited for participation were identified based on registry data. HRQoL was assessed with the validated KINDL-R questionnaire, which scores HRQoL along six different dimensions. RESULTS: The overall scores (82.4 [81.8; 83.0] vs. 79.6 [79,1; 80.2]), and in particular the emotional well-being scores (85.6 [84.6; 86.6] vs. 83.3 [82.4; 84.2]), were lower during the year of the pandemic (2020) compared to the survey year 2014/15. The highest decrease between 2014/15 and 2020 in the adjusted models was seen for the youngest age group (–3.9 points), followed by children from families with a high income (–3.2 points), girls (–3.1 points), Swiss citizens (–3.1 points) and children from the German-speaking part of Switzerland (–3.1 points). HRQoL was particularly low during periods with restrictions and at the height of the COVID-19 waves in 2020. CONCLUSION: The SOPHYA-study showed that HRQoL, and especially emotional well-being, was lower in 5 to 11-year-old children in Switzerland during the first year of the pandemic compared to the results from the survey conducted in 2014/15. In the year of the pandemic, the scores were lowest at the height of the COVID-19 waves and their associated restrictions. As it cannot be distinguished whether fear of the disease itself or the restrictions caused this decrease in HRQoL, containment policies should keep COVID-19 infections as low as possible, but still enable children to profit from protective factors such as leisure activities, physical activity and social contact. https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3105 |
| spellingShingle | Bettina Bringolf-Isler Johanna Hänggi Bengt Kayser L. Suzanne Suggs Alain Dössegger Nicole Probst-Hensch COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional study Swiss Medical Weekly |
| title | COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional study |
| title_full | COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional study |
| title_short | COVID-19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in Switzerland: a repeated cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | covid 19 pandemic and health related quality of life in primary school children in switzerland a repeated cross sectional study |
| url | https://www.smw.ch/index.php/smw/article/view/3105 |
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