Quality of Life Prior and in the Course of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Nationwide Cross-Sectional Study with Brazilian Dietitians

da Costa Matos, Raquel Adjafre; Akutsu, Rita de Cassia Coelho de Almeida; Zandonadi, Renata Puppin; Botelho, Raquel Braz Assunção

Dietitians as healthcare professionals could decrease their quality of life during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic period; therefore, this study aimed to compare Brazilian dietitians’ perceptions of quality of life before and during the pandemic. This nationwide cross-sectional research aimed to evaluate Brazilian dietitians’ quality of life before and in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, using a previously validated self-administered instrument WHO-QOL-BREF in Brazilian-Portuguese. The questionnaire was composed of 26 items (four domains) to evaluate life quality (physical, psychological, social relationship, and environment). The questionnaire also presented some sociodemographic variables and three questions about the COVID-19 pandemic. It was applied using GoogleForms(®) platform (Google LLC, Mountain View, CA, USA). For the statistical analysis of data, Paired T-test, Chi-squared test, and Analysis of Variance were used. A total of 1290 Brazilian dietitians replied to the instrument. Comparing quality of life (QoL) before SARS-COV-2 (3.83 ± 0.59) and during the pandemic (3.36 ± 0.66), data was statistically different. Comparing prior and in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, all variables and domains presented statistical differences (better before the pandemic period). Among Brazilian dietitians, the psychological health domain was the most affected. The Sars-Cov-2 pandemic negatively impacted the QoL of Brazilian dietitians since health professionals face changes in their lives because of work.