Quality of life and occupational balance during corona virus disease 2019 lockdown in India: A survey on parents of children below 16 years

Background: Lockdown due to corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected physical, mental, social, economic and emotional aspects of life around the globe. People of all age groups, from children to older adults have had to compromise overall life-style by adapting to the changes necessary for preventive and safety measures. Children are also overwhelmed due to changes in routine, occupation, leisure activities, and social participation. These have added to the psychosocial stressors of parents and caregivers and have influenced their quality of life (QOL) and occupational balance (OB). Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate QOL and OB among Indian parents of children below 16 years during COVID-19 lockdown. The secondary objective was to examine the relationship between QOL and OB as well as explored the level of QOL and OB among parents during COVID-19 lockdown. Study Design: An online based cross-sectional survey was conducted through different social media platforms. Methods: Parents (N = 277: n = 116 male and n = 161 female) of children below 16 years of age from different parts of India who were able to understand English language, filled an online questionnaire that assessed their QOL by World Health Organization QOL Short form (WHOQOL-Bref) and OB by OB Questionnaire (OBQ). Parents were recruited by a snow ball sampling method. Results: Results showed that the majority of the parents were having good self-rated WHOQOL-Bref and OBQ scores. Various socio-demographic variables including family structure, educational status, employment status and number of children did not influence OB and QOL of the parents. However, Independent sample “t” test showed a significant association (P = 0.014 and 95% confidence interval [95% CI]:-7.845, 0.902) between age of the parents and OBQ scores. In Karl Pearson correlation analysis, it was also found that the association between scores of OBQ and WHOQOL-Bref was positive with a highly significant (P = 0.001 and [95% CI]: 0.243, 0.465). Conclusion: The result of the study showed most of the parents of children below 16 years old were having good QOL and OB during COVID-19 lockdown.