BACKGROUND: Covid-19 is a new disease & is having the most devastating effects globally;its emergence and spread causes' confusion, anxiety & fear among the general public The aim of the study is to evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on psychosocial and socioeconomic status of select rural and urban community during lockdown METHODS: We conducted a community based cross sectional study with a sample size of 600 using systematic random sampling method in both rural and urban areas of Puducherry Pretested semi structured questionnaire was used to assess the awareness of Covid-19, psychosocial problems and socioeconomic impact RESULTS: Our study observed that 62% had adequate awareness, 34% had moderate awareness among the sample population and 15% had moderate to severe psychosocial impact due to lockdown, which indicates there is increased distress and apprehension among the general population due to Covid-19 pandemic There was highly significant association between locality (urban or rural) and various psychosocial problems like feeling of yourself or others in danger CONCLUSIONS: There is a need for intensification of preventive aspects and stringent measures to reduce the incidence of cases in the community To address the psychosocial impact, government can advertise the availability of helpline numbers which should be working 24 x 7 to fulfil the public grievances and arrange counseling specialist to tackle the mental health issues and further mitigation
COVID-19 awareness and its impact in rural and urban Puducherry - a community based cross sectional study