The COVID-19 Pandemic and Adolescents’ Experience in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Cross-Country Study Using a Telephone Survey

Abstract

The public health measures instituted by governments to combat the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may cause developmental and educational losses to adolescents. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its mitigation strategies on adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are unclear. This study aimed to examine adolescents’ knowledge, perceptions, and practices related to COVID-19 and the impacts of the pandemic on the daily lives of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. The survey was conducted in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Nigeria using computer-assisted telephone interviews to enable rapid and remote data collection. Two sites were included in each country, with approximately 300 adolescents per site and 1,795 adolescents in total. Variations across the six sites were noted for the proportions of the adolescents who could correctly identify all key COVID-19 symptoms (4–25%), transmission methods (16–59%), and prevention approaches (33–79%). Most (> 72%) of the adolescents were no longer going to school due to school closures. Many adolescents (23–81%) were not receiving any education during the pandemic. A considerable proportion of the adolescents (44–83%) self-assessed as having less ability to learn during the pandemic; many expected it to be very difficult to catch up on education after the pandemic. Decreases in the consumption of major food groups were common across sites. Urgent actions are needed in sub-Saharan Africa to address the inadequate knowledge of COVID-19 among adolescents and the impacts of the pandemic on adolescent education and nutrition.

Adolescents amid emerging COVID-19 pandemic in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau: a qualitative study

“…In line with findings among adolescents in Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Ethiopia,23 most study participants agreed that coronavirus was real and caused severe disease. Aware of debates about the realness of the virus and mistrust towards authorities, they based their opinion on common sense, own experience of the pandemic’s consequences and news reports.…”

“…It is estimated that emergency policies and public health measures in response to COVID-19 will severely affect the group 19. The death rates have been low,20 yet the group has been impacted through loss of income, food insecurity and lack of access to healthcare and education 19 21–23…”

The Continued Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Education and Mental Health Among Sub-Saharan African Adolescents

“…While mitigating measures have reduced the spread of the virus [ 1 ], lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and physical distancing guidelines have also led to considerable disruptions of daily lives. These measures have adverse and potentially long-lasting consequences for different population groups in sub-Saharan Africa [ [3] , [4] , [5] ].…”

Correlation between alveolar-arterial oxygen tension difference gradient baseline with spirometry test in severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

“…Moreover secondly, there is an accumulation of fat on the chest wall, so there is an obstacle to direct chest movement or impaired muscle function in the intercostal space. Third, in obesity, an increase in the release of inflammatory markers (eg leptin) into the lungs, resulting in disturbances in airway diameter (Wang et al, 2021) The bivariate test of the relationship between the AaDO2 gradient at the initial exposure to severe COVID-19 and spirometry results, namely FEV1 <75% (obstruction), showed no significant relationship. This shows that in this study, there was no relationship between AaDO2 patients and the presence of obstruction after the patient recovered.…”