Depression and Quality of Life among Women Hospitalized during COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The outbreak of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) can lead to the development of several mental disorders. Women are an important part of any society, and psychological factors can affect their quality of life. The present study aimed to investigate the depression level among hospitalized women and its relationship with their quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 465 women admitted to public educational hospitals affiliated with the Minister of Health, Iran. The data collection tools were the Goldberg Depression Scale and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data by applying SPSS software version 23. Results: According to the results, 48.60% of the women were mentally healthy. While 15.27% of them were more likely to develop depression, 13.12% of the others were borderline depressed. At the same time, 12.69% of the women who participated in the study suffered from a mild to moderate level of depression, 7.74% of women had moderate to severe depression, and 2.58% of the rest tolerated severe depression. Other results show that the mean score of quality of life (QOL) of the women was 58.49±11.51 (out of 120). Moreover, a significant and inverse correlation between depression and QOL was observed among the studied women (r=-0.564, P<0.001). Statistically significant relationships between depression and the variables of age (P=0.007), place of residence (P=0.04), marital status (P=0.006), level of education (P<0.001), and income level (P=0.03) were also observed. Moreover, there was also a statistically significant relationship between women's QOL and their marital status (P=0.02). Conclusion: According to the results, providing social support and establishing effective communication based on mutual interaction among hospitalized women and healthcare workers can be recommended to decrease their level of depressive disorder and enhance their QOL.