A General Assessment of Life Quality in Turkey and Several East European Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Yıl 2023, Cilt: 13 Sayı: 1, 763 - 784, 23.03.2023

Yasemin Aslan Orhan Zengin

https://doi.org/10.48146/odusobiad.1140891

Öz

COVID-19 pandemisi toplumları derinden etkilemiştir. Pandemi dünyaya hızla yayılarak hastalıklara ve ölümlere neden olmuştur. Buna ek olarak COVID-19 pandemisi bireylerin ekonomik durumlarını, sosyal ilişkilerini, psikolojik durumlarını ve sağlık durumlarını olumsuz etkilemiştir. Çoğu küresel salgının yaşam kalitesini önemli ölçüde düşürdüğü bilinmektedir. Yaşam kalitesi ülkeler arasında farklılık gösterebilir. Pandeminin farklı ülkelerin yaşam kalitesi üzerindeki etkilerinin değerlendirmesi, özellikle gelecekte yaşanma ihtimali bulunan pandemilere karşı gerekli koruyucu önlemlerin alınması açısından önemli olabilir. Bu çalışma, COVID-19 pandemisi sırasında Macaristan, Slovakya, Letonya, Polonya ve Estonya'nın yaşam kalitesini Türkiye ile karşılaştırmalı olarak değerlendirmeyi ve politika yapıcılara önerilerde bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Eurofound tarafından pandemi başlangıcında Avrupa ülkelerinde uygulanan “Yaşamak, Çalışmak ve COVID-19 Anketi”nin sonuçları Macaristan, Slovakya, Letonya, Polonya, Estonya ve Türkiye arasında karşılaştırılarak, toplumların pandemiden ekonomik, sosyal, sağlık ve psikolojik açıdan etkilenme düzeyleri incelenmiştir. Mutluluk puan ortalaması en yüksek ülkelerin Letonya ve Estonya, en düşük ülkelerin Türkiye ve Macaristan olduğu, memnuniyet puan ortalaması en yüksek ülkelerin benzer şekilde Estonya ve Letonya, en düşük ülkelerin Türkiye ve Slovakya olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Çalışmada sağlık sistemine ve devlet kurumlarına en yüksek güven puan ortalamasına sahip ülkelerin Estonya ve Letonya olduğu saptanmıştır. Çalışma sonuçları, pandemi döneminde halkın yaşam kalitesini etkileyen faktörlerin ülkeler arasında farklılık gösterdiğine işaret etmektedir. Çalışmada, devlet kurumuna ve sağlık sistemine güven puan ortalaması yüksek olan ülkelerin memnuniyet ve mutluluk puan ortalamalarının da yüksek olduğu dikkat çekmektedir. Politika yapıcıların pandemilere hazırlıklı olmak amacıyla toplumun yaşam kalitesini etkileyen faktörler hakkında bilgi sahibi olması önemlidir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

COVID-19, Yaşam Kalitesi, Türkiye, Doğu Avrupa Ülkeleri, Pandemi

Destekleyen Kurum

Çalışmayı destekleyen herhangi bir kurum bulunmamaktadır.

A General Assessment of Life Quality in Turkey and Several East European Countries During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Öz

The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply affected societies. The pandemic has rapidly spread throughout the world, causing illnesses and deaths. Furthermore, it has adversely affected individuals’ economic status, social relationships, psychological situation, and health status. Most global epidemics are known to harm people's quality of life. The standard of living varies by country. Evaluating the quality of life in different countries during the pandemic could be important, especially for taking necessary precautions and proactive measures against future pandemics. This study aims to evaluate the quality of life of Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Poland, and Estonia in comparison with Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic and to make recommendations to policymakers. The results of the “Living, Working and COVID-19 Survey” implemented by Eurofound in European countries at the beginning of the pandemic were compared between Hungary, Slovakia, Latvia, Poland, Estonia, and Turkey, and the economic, social, health, and psychological impact of the pandemic on societies was examined. It was found that the countries with the highest happiness mean scores were Latvia and Estonia, the countries with the lowest happiness mean scores were Turkey and Hungary, the countries with the highest mean satisfaction score were Estonia and Latvia, and the countries with the lowest mean satisfaction score were Turkey and Slovakia. It was also determined that the countries with the highest mean score of trust in the healthcare system and government institutions were Estonia and Latvia. The results of the study indicate that the factors affecting the quality of life of people during the pandemic differ between countries and that the countries with a high average of trust in government institutions and health systems also have high average scores of satisfaction and happiness. Policymakers need to have information about the factors affecting the quality of life of society to be prepared for pandemics

Anahtar Kelimeler

COVID-19, Quality of Life, Turkey, East European Countries, Pandemic

Kaynakça

• Ahmad, A., Rahman, I., & Agarwal, M. (2020). Factor influencing mental health during COVID-19 Outbreak: An exploratory survey among Indian Population. MedRxiv, 1-16. DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.03.20081380.
• Altena, E., Baglioni, C., Espie, C.A., Ellis, J., Gavriloff, D., Holzinger, B., Schlarb, A., Frase, L., Jernelöv, S., & Riemann, D. (2020). Dealing with sleep problems during home confinement due to the COVID-19 Outbreak: Practical recommendations from a task force of the European CBT-I Academy. Journal of Sleep Research, 29, e13052. DOI: 10.1111/jsr.13052.
• Altuğ, F., Yağcı, N., Kitiş, A., Büker, N., & Cavlak, U. (2009). Analyzing of factors affecting the quality of life in elderly at home. Elderly Issues Research Journal, 2 (1), 48-60.
• Ammar, A., Chtourou, H., Boukhris, O., Trabelsi, K., Masmoudi, L., Brach, M. et al. (2020). Social participation and life satisfaction of peoples during the COVID-19 home confinement: The ECLB-COVID19 multicenter study. MedRxiv, 1-23. DOI: 10.1101/2020.05.05.20091066.
• Antinyan, A., Bassetti, T., Corazzini, L., & Pavesi, F. (2021). Trust in the health system and COVID-19 treatment. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 643758. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.643758.
• Arechavala, N. S., & Espina, P. Z. (2019). Quality of life in the European Union: An econometric analysis from a gender perspective. Social Indicators Research, 142, 179-200. DOI: 10.1007/s11205-018-1913-4.
• Bakar, N. (2012). Depression, quality of life, and influential factors in the elderly. (Publication No. 304498) [Master Thesis, Erzincan University].
• Balanz´a-Martínez, V., Atienza-Carbonell, B., Kapczinski, F., & De Boni, R. B. (2020). Lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 - time to connect. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 141 (5), 399-400. DOI: 10.1111/acps.13177.
• Bedford, J., Enria, D., Giesecke, J., Heymann, D. L., Ihekweazu, C., Kobinger, G., et al. (2020). COVID-19: Towards controlling of a pandemic. Lancet, 395(10229), 1015-1018. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30673-5.
• Beller, J., Schäfers, J., Haier, J., Geyer, S., & Epping, J. (2022). Trust in healthcare during COVID-19 in Europe: vulnerable groups trust the least. Journal of Public Health (Berl.). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-022-01705-3
• Bostan, S., Kaya, A., Güneş, D., & Usta, İ. (2020). Anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in the individual and escape from the hospital. Journal of International Health Sciences and Management, 6, 60-71.
• Bottomley, A., Reijneveld, J. C., Koller, M., Flechtner, H., Tomaszewski, K. A., & Greimel, E. (2019). Current state of quality of life and patient-reported outcomes research. European Journal of Cancer, 121, 55-63. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2019.08.016.
• Campos, A. C. V., Ferreira, E. F., Vargas, A. M. D. & Albala, C. (2014). Aging, gender and quality of life (AGEQOL) study: Factors associated with good quality of life in older Brazilian community-dwelling adults. Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 12, 166. DOI: 10.1186/s12955-014-0166-4.
• Chodkiewicz, J., Miniszewska, J., Krajewska, E., & Bili ´nski, P. (2021). Mental health during the second wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic-Polish studies. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18, 3423. DOI: 10.3390/ ijerph18073423.
• Choi, E. P. H., Hui, B. P. H., & Wan, E. Y. F. Depression and anxiety in Hong Kong during COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (10), 3740. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17103740.
• Datta, D., Datta, P. P., & Majumdar, K. K. (2015). Role of social interaction on quality of life. National Journal of Medical Research, 5(4), 290-292.
• Douglas, M., Katikireddi, S. V., Taulbut, M., McKee, M., & McCartney, G. (2020). Mitigating the wider health effects of COVID-19 pandemic response. BMJ, 369, m1557. DOI: 10.1136/bmj.m1557.
• Dziedzic, B., Idzik, A., Kobos, E., Sienkiewicz, Z., Kryczka, T., Fidecki, W., & Wysokińskiİ, M. (2021). Loneliness and mental health among the elderly in Poland during the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health, 21, 1976. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-12029-4.
• Eurofound. (November 6, 2020). COVID-19, Living, Working and COVID-19. COVID-19 Series. Research Report 2020. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. t https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2020/living-working-and-COVID-19/
• Ferreira, L. N., Pereira, L. N., Fé Brás, M., & Ilchuk, K. (2021). Quality of life under the COVID-19 quarantine. Quality of Life Research, 30 (5), 1389-1405. DOI: 10.1007/s11136-020-02724-x.
• Foddai, A., Lindberg, A., Lubroth, J., & Ellis-Iversen, J. (2020). Surveillance to improve evidence for community control decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic–opening the animal epidemic toolbox for public health. One Health, 9, 100130. DOI: 10.1016/j.onehlt.2020.100130.
• Gille, F., Smith, S., & Mays, N. (2021). What is public trust in the healthcare system? A new conceptual framework developed from qualitative data in England. Social Theory & Health, 19(1), 1-20. DOI: 10.1057/s41285-020-00129-x.
• Goldstein, D. A. N., & Wiedemann, J. (April 16, 2021). Who do you trust? The consequences of political and social trust for public responsiveness to COVID-19 orders. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/who-do-you-trust-the-consequences-of-partisanship-and-trust-for-public-responsiveness-to-covid19-orders/466134E376AD87F52441F26F3BE7D653
• Goniewicz, K., Khorram-Manesh, A., Hertelendy, A. J., Goniewicz, M., Naylor, K., & Burkle, F. M. (2020). Current response and management decisions of the European Union to the COVID-19 outbreak: A review. Sustainability, 12 (9), 3838. DOI: 10.3390/su12093838.
• Gössling, S., Scott, D., & Hall, C. M. (2020). Pandemics, tourism and global change: A rapid assessment of COVID-19. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 29 (1), 1-20. DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2020.1758708.
• Greyling, T., Rossouw, S., & Adhikari, T. (2021a). A tale of three countries: How did Covid-19 lockdown impact happiness? South African Journal of Economics, 89, 25-43. DOI: 10.1111/saje.12284.
• Greyling, T., Rossouw, S., & Adhikari, T. (2021b). The good, the bad and the ugly of lockdowns during Covid-19. PLoS ONE, 16, e0245546. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0245546.
• Helliwell, J.F., Layard, R., Sachs, J.D., De Neve, J-E., Aknin, L.B., & Wang, S. (May 20, 2022). World hapiness report 2021. WellBeing International WBI Studies Repository. Solutions for People, Animals and Environment. https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/hw_happiness/5/
• Kabasakal, Z. & Baş, A.U. (2013). Problem solving skills of teacher candidates predicting of life satisfaction. Journal of Research in Education and Teaching, 2 (1), 27-35.
• Lee, K.H., Xu, H. & Wu, B. (2020). Gender differences in quality of life among community-dwelling older adults in lowand middle-income countries: results from the Study on global AGEing and adult health (SAGE). BMC Public Health, 20, 114. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-020-8212-0.
• Li, L. Z., & Wang, S. (2020). Prevalence and predictors of general psychiatric disorders and loneliness during COVID-19 in the United Kingdom. Psychiatry Research, 291, 113267. DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.
• Li, W., Yang, Y., Liu, Z. H., Zhao, Y. J., Zhang, Q., Zhang, L., et al. (2020). Progression of mental health services during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. International Journal of Biological Sciences, 16(10), 1732-1738.
• Ministry of Health of Turkey. General situation in Turkey. (2020). Available online at https://covid19.saglik.gov.tr/TR-66935/genel-koronavirus-tablosu.html/, checked on 06/21/2022.
• Mohseni, M., & Lindstrom, M. (2007). Social capital, trust in the health-care system and self-rated health: The role of access to health care in a population based study. Social Science & Medicine, 64(7), 1373-1383. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.11.023.
• Murphy, K., Williamson, H., Sargeant, E., & McCarthy, M. (2020). Why people comply with COVID-19 social distancing restrictions: Self-interest or duty? Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 53 (4), 477-496. DOI: 10.1177/0004865820954484.
• Nguyen, H. C., Nguyen, M. H., Do, B. N., Tran, C. Q., Nguyen, T. T. P., Pham, K. M., et al. (2020). People with suspected COVID‐19 symptoms were more likely depressed and had lower health‐related quality of life: The potential benefit of health literacy. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9 (4), 965. DOI: 10.3390/jcm9040965.
• Nicola, M., Alsafi, Z., Sohrabi, C., Kerwan, A., Al-Jabir, A., Iosifidis, C., et al. (2020). The socio-economic ımplications of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19): A review. International Journal of Surgery, 78, 185-193. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsu.2020.04.018.
• Nielsen, J. H., & Lindvall, J. (2021). Trust in government in Sweden and Denmark during the COVID-19 epidemic. West European Politics, 44 (5-6), 1180-1204. DOI: 10.1080/01402382.2021.1909964.
• OECD. (2022). Trust in government (indicator). DOI: 10.1787/1de9675e-en (Accessed on 03 June 2022)
• Oliveira, M., & Fernandes, C. (2020). Managing the coronavirus pandemic in Portugal: A step-by-step adjustment of health and social services. Psychological Trauma, 12 (5), 536-538. DOI: 10.1037/tra0000879.
• Pan-European Commission. Drawing light from the pandemic a new strategy for health and sustainable development. Report of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development. Copenhagen, Denmark September, 2021.
• Park, K-H., Kim, A-R., Yang, M-A., Lim, S-J., & Park J-H. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lifestyle, mental health, and quality of life of adults in South Korea. PLoS ONE, 16 (2), e0247970. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247970.
• Pieh, C., Budimir, S., & Probst, T. (2020). The effect of age, gender, income, work, and physical activity on mental health during coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown in Austria. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 136, 110186. DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2020.
• Purba, F. D., Kumalasari, A. D., Novianti, L. E., Kendhawati, L., Noer, A. H., & Ninin, R. H. (2021). Marriage and quality of life during COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS ONE, 16 (9), e0256643. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0256643.
• Radin, D. (2013). Does corruption undermine trust in health care? Results from public opinion polls in Croatia. Social Science & Medicine, 98, 46-53. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.033.
• Reine, I. (2021). Factors predicting loneliness among ageing populations in the Baltic states during Covid-19. European Journal of Public Health, 31(3). DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckab165.110.
• Ren, L. L., Wang, Y. M., Wu, Z. Q., Xiang, Z. C., Guo, L , Xu, T., et al. (2020). Identification of a novel coronavirus causing severe pneumonia in human: A descriptive study. Chinese Medical Journal, 133 (9), 1015-1024. DOI: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000000722.
• Robinson, S., Gupta, K., Ripberger, J., Ross, J., Fox, A., Jenkins-Smith, H., et al. (2021). Trust in government agencies in the time of COVID-19. (Elements in Public and Nonprofit Administration Series). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2021.
• Rossi, R., Socci, V., Talevi, D., Mensi, S., Niolu, C., Pacitti, F., et al. (2020). COVID-19 Pandemic and lockdown measures impact on mental health among the general population in Italy. An N=18147 web-based survey. Frontiers in Psychiatry. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00790.
• Rossouw, S., Greyling, T., & Adhikari, T. (2021a). Happiness-lost: Did governments make the right decisions to combat Covid-19? South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 24 (1), a3795. DOI: 10.4102/sajems.v24i1.3795.
• Rossouw, S., Greyling, T., & Adhikari, T. (2021b). The evolution of happiness pre and peri-COVID-19: A Markov Switching Dynamic Regression Model. PLOS ONE, 16 (12), e0259579. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259579.
• Samlani, Z., Lemfadli, Y., Errami, A. A., Oubaha, S., & Krati, K. (2020). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on quality of life and well-being in Morocco. Preprints, 6, 130-134. DOI: 10.20944/preprints202006.0287.v1.
• Shanka, M. S., & Menebo, M. M. (2022). When and how trust in government leads to compliance with COVID-19 precautionary measures. Journal of Business Research, 139, 1275-1283. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.10.036.
• Stoecklin, S. B., Rolland, P., Silue, Y., Mailles, A., Campese, C., Simondon, A., et al. (2020). First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in France: Surveillance, investigations and control measures, January 2020. Eurosurveillance, 25 (6), 1-7. DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.6.2000094.
• Streimikiene, D. (1998). Quality of life and housing. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 5 (2), 140-145. DOI: 10.7763/IJIET.2015.V5.491.
• The WHOQOL Group. (1998). The World Health Organization quality of life assessment (WHOQOL): Development and general psychometric properties. Social Science & Medicine, 46 (12), 1569-1585. DOI: 10.1016/s0277-9536(98)00009-4.
• Tisdell, C. A. (2020). Economic, social and political ıssues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic Analysis & Policy, 68, 17-28. DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2020.08.002.
• Tsamakis, K., Triantafyllis, A. S., Tsiptsios, D., Spartalis, E., Mueller, C., Tsamakis, C., et al. (2020). COVID-19 related stress exacerbates common physical and mental pathologies and affects treatment (Review). Experiment and Therapeutic Medicine, 20, 159-162. DOI:10.3892/etm.2020.8671
• Villas-Boas, S., Oliveira, A.L., Ramos, N. & Montero, I. (2019) Predictors of quality of life in different age groups across adulthood. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 17 (1), 42-57. DOI: 10.1080/15350770.2018.1500330.
• Wang, C., Pan, R., Wan, X., Tan, Y., Xu, L., Ho, C. S., & Ho, R. C. (2020). Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (5), 1729. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17051729.
• Wang, Y., Di, Y., Ye, J., & Wei, W. (2021). Study on the public psychological states and its related factors during the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in some regions of China. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 26 (1), 13-22. DOI: 10.1080/13548506.2020.1746817.
• World Health Organization (WHO). 2020. WHOQOL: Measuring quality of life. https://www.who.int/toolkits/whoqol/
• Zahra, D., Sadatmahalleh, S. J., Samaneh, Y., Mahnaz, B. K., & Anoshiravan, K. (2020). Influential factors on quality of life in married Iranian women during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2020: A path analysis. BMC Women's Health, 21 (1), 102. DOI: 10.1186/s12905-020-01114-2.
• Zhang, Y., & Ma, Z. F. (2020). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and quality of life among local residents in Liaoning Province, China: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (7), 2381. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17072381.