The extent of self-reported impact of COVID-19 on daily academic activities and incomes among university students in Kumasi, Ghana

Abstract

Students at universities are becoming recognized as a vulnerable populace, with much greater rates of depression and workload/activities than the overall population amidst COVID-19. As such, the present research intends to document the extent of self-reported impact on university students' everyday accademic lives and incomes. In August of 2021, a cross-sectional, self-administered internet-based poll was conducted among Ghanaian university students in Kumasi. The data was retrieved from the internet using Microsoft Excel and then analyzed using STATA software version 14. Both univariate and logistic regression analysis were performed, with a p-value<0.05 regarded statistically significant (*). The study included 430 participants, majority of whom were single (98.6%), young adults (89.8%), and Christians (90.7%). This survey found that 52.1% said the COVID-19 epidemic has a highly significant impact on their daily activities and income. Among other risk factors considered by the study, only students with a perceived risk of COVID-19 infection are approximately three times more likely to be affected by the pandemic in their daily academic activities and incomes than those who were not (Adj. OR = 2.516, 95CI% = 1.551–4.081, p < 0.001). The knowledge advanced by this study will educate stakeholders and aid policy-makers in higher education in improving public educational provisions. The results of this study may be used to predict the future effects of the pandemic. The novelty of this research also lies in its self-reported approach to analyzing the effect of the pandemic on the income and everyday academic activities of university students in Kumasi.