Life satisfaction and happiness in patients shielding from the COVID-19 global pandemic: A randomised controlled study of the 'mood as information' theory
To extrapolate the 'mood as information' theory to the unique and ecologically relevant setting of the COVID-19 pandemic; the specific aim was to inform health care providers of the impact of bringing the pandemic to salience during life satisfaction evaluations, assessing whether this 'prime' results in increased or decreased reports of satisfaction which are derived unconsciously.
DESIGN:Prospective Randomised Interventional Study.
SETTING:Renal Transplant Department in a tertiary centre in the United Kingdom.
PARTICIPANTS:200 Renal transplant patients aged between 20 and 88 years. Telephone interviews were undertaken between 1st May, 2020 and 29th May, 2020, at the height of 'shielding' from COVID-19.
INTERVENTIONS:Participants were randomised into 2 groups, with 1 group receiving a simple 'priming question' regarding the COVID pandemic and the other group having no prior contact.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS:Individuals were then asked to rate their own overall lifetime happiness; desire to change; overall life satisfaction and momentary happiness on a scale of 1 to 10 for each measure. Independent sample t-tests were used to compare results between the two groups, with a type 1 error rate below 5% considered statistically significant.
RESULTS:Participants' overall happiness with their life as a whole revealed that individuals who were primed with a question about COVID-19 reported increased overall happiness with their life compared to individuals who had not been primed (+0.88, 95% confidence interval 0.42 to 1.35, p = 0.0002). In addition, participants in the primed group reported less desire to change their life when compared to the non-primed group (-1.35, 95% confidence interval -2.06 to -0.65, p = 0.0002). Participants who were primed with the COVID-19 question also reported a higher overall satisfaction with their life than individuals who had not been primed (+1.01, 95% confidence interval 0.50 to 1.52, p = 0.0001). Finally, the participants who received the priming question demonstrated increased reported momentary happiness (+0.64, 95% confidence interval 0.03 to 1.24, p = 0.04).
CONCLUSIONS:The results demonstrated that bringing salience to the COVID-19 pandemic with a simple question leads to positive changes in both momentary happiness and other components of global life satisfaction, thereby extrapolating evidence for the application of the mood-as-information theory to more extreme life circumstances. Given the importance of patient-reported evaluations, these findings have implications for how, when and where accurate and reproducible measurements of life satisfaction should be obtained.
CET Conclusion
| Reviewer: | Mr John O'Callaghan, Centre for Evidence in Transplantation, Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences University of Oxford |
|---|---|
| Conclusion: | This is a very interesting and well conducted RCT in renal transplantation during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The study is predicated on the basis that humans desire explanations for behaviours and feelings. Telephone interviews were conducted to assess patients’ life satisfaction and happiness. 200 renal transplant recipients, who were shielding during the period of the study (May 1st- 29th 2020), were randomised to one of two groups. The first group received a “priming” introduction whereby they were asked “By the way, how’s the COVID-19 pandemic making you feel at the moment?” Both groups had the same introductory conversation apart from this one sentence and then were asked the same 4 questions about their life satisfaction. Patients who had the priming introduction gave significantly better scores for lifetime happiness, life satisfaction and momentary happiness, as well as desire for change. It seems that asking a question about the COVID-19 pandemic, that brings this negative event into the frame, resulted in a discounting effect, whereby positive changes in both momentary happiness and other components of global life satisfaction were given higher scores. This has strong implications for how and when measures of life satisfaction should be gathered. |
Methodological quality
| Jadad score | 3 |
|---|---|
| Allocation concealment | NO |
| Data analysis | PER PROTOCOL |
Study Details
| Aims: | This study aimed to examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the life satisfaction and happiness of kidney transplant patients undertaking mandatory shielding. |
|---|---|
| Interventions: | Participants were randomised to those who were to be primed with a question regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and those who were not. |
| Participants: | 200 kidney transplant recipients. |
| Outcomes: | The outcomes of interest were overall life satisfaction, momentary happiness, overall lifetime happiness and desire to change. |
| Follow Up: | N/A |
Metadata
| Funding: | Non-industry funding |
|---|---|
| Publication type: | Randomized Controlled Trial, Randomised Controlled Trial |
| Organ: | Kidney |
| Language: | English |
| Author email: | Richard.Borrows@uhb.nhs.uk |
| MeSH terms: | Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; COVID-19; Female; Happiness; Humans; Kidney Transplantation; Male; Middle Aged; Pandemics; Patient Satisfaction; Personal Satisfaction; Prospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Surveys and Questionnaires; United Kingdom; Aged, 80 and Over |