Global, WHO Regional Quality of Life in People during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Strict adherence to safety precautions and, most importantly, social distancing and isolation of people infected with the Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) virus have considerably affected the daily life activities of individuals and overshadowed their routine lifestyle. We conducted a systematic review to provide evidence-based information for clinicians, health policymakers, and social workers in developing useful interventions to effectively mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic on people’s life and health condition.

In this systematic review and meta-analysis, studies assessing quality of life (QOL) among the population during the COVID-19 pandemic were searched in four main databases and Google Scholar from the onset of the epidemic to May 2021 with Mesh terms of quality of life and Covid-19.

We included 23058 people who participated in 33 studies; the total quality of life score was estimated at 59.45 (95% CI, 56.33-62.58). Based on the analysis, for each year added to participants’ age, their quality of life score was reduced by -0.3%. Furthermore, a significant association between gender and QOL was affirmed, indicating a more favorable condition among men. The highest score of QOL was reported in AMRO at 66.77 (95% CI, 60.55-73) and WPRO at 64.79 (95% CI, 59.30-70.28), respectively, while SEARO with 47.95 (95% CI, 47.67-48.23) got the lowest score.

Our review robustly recommends the necessity for community health promotion programs to be implemented in vulnerable community segments and adds corresponding knowledge to the existing literature about the status of quality of life in people with different socio-demographic characteristics living in different regions worldwide.