Abstract
OBJECTIVE Immunological mind-body research suggests mental health may also be important in the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the potential influence of mental health as a protective factor for COVID-19 related mortality in the general population.
METHODS Data sources were the Global Burden of Disease report 2017 and publicly reported situational reports of COVID-19. We described variables; calculated the spearman’s correlation coefficient, calculated the percentage of the variability of the data that is explained by the association. We explored inter-relationships among other variables: aged 70 or older, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. A correlation matrix with plotted scatter matrix diagrams was produced.
RESULTS Across 181 countries, the mean total COVID-19 related survivors per million was 999,955 (sd = 120), median = 999,995. The variable had a lognormal distribution; the mean mentally healthy per 100,000 was 85,411 (sd = 1,871), median = 85,634. The test of normality resulted in p-value < 0.001. Correlation of mentally healthy per 100,0000 and totals of COVID-19 related survivors was ϱs = 0.29 (n = 181, 95% CI 0.16–0.43). The variance explained by the relation between mental healthy and totals of COVID-19 related survivors was 8.4% (95% CI 2.6 –18.5).
CONCLUSION A weak association was found between the psychological well-being of a population and COVID-19 related survival. This relationship explained between 2.6 and 18.5% of COVID-19 related survival.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Funding Statement
I received no funding
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
IRB/oversight body approval was not needed
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).
Yes
I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable.
Yes
Footnotes
Funding: None
Conflicts of interest: None
Data Availability
data available on ResearchGate: DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11049.42087