Knowledge, practice, and impact of COVID-19 on mental health among patients with chronic health conditions at selected hospitals of Sidama regional state, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 causes worse outcomes and a higher mortality rate in adults with chronic medical conditions. In addition, the pandemic is influencing mental health and causing psychological distress in people with chronic medical illnesses. OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge, practice, and impact of COVID-19 on mental health among chronic disease patients at selected hospitals in Sidama regional state. METHOD: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 422 study subjects were enrolled in the study using a two-stage sampling technique. Data were coded and entered using Epi Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS-20 for analysis. Descriptive analysis was used to present the data using tables and figures. Bivariate and multivariate logistic analyses were used to identify factors associated with the initiation of preventive behavior of COVID-19. Variables with a P-value of less than 0.25 in bivariate analysis were considered as candidate variables for multivariable analysis. The statistical significance was declared at a P-value less than 0.05. RESULT: More than half 237 (56.2%, 95% CI: 50.7–60.9) of the study participants had good knowledge of COVID-19. The practice of preventive measures toward COVID-19 was found to be low (42.4%, 95% CI: 37.9–47.2). Being widowed (AOR = 0.31, 95% CI (0.10, 0.92)), secondary and above educational status (AOR = 2.21, 95% CI (1.01, 4.84)), urban residence (AOR = 2.33, 95% CI (1.30, 4.19)) and good knowledge (AOR = 4.87, 95% CI (2.96, 8.00)) were significantly associated with good practice. In addition, more than one-third of the study participants 37% (95% CI 32.7, 41.5) were experiencing anxiety. While more than a quarter of respondents 26.8% (95% CI 22.5, 31.5) had depression. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION: Despite more than half of the participants had good knowledge, the prevention practice was low. Hence, multiple information dissemination strategies should be implemented continuously among chronic disease patients. In addition, the magnitude of concurrent depression and anxiety in the current study was high.