Is the psychological well-being of a population associated with COVID-19 related survival?

Feys, F.

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 s=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.