Quality of life (QoL) is a construct used increasingly frequently in the literature ([1, 2]. Definitions range from the philosophical to the pragmatic. QoL potentially encompasses a wide range of issues and the definition applied often reflects the perspective of the researcher or discipline; for example, defined at its most general it can be described as 'what the individual says it is' [3]. Other researchers emphasize the relative nature of QoL and have described it as 'the difference, or the gap, at a particular period of time, between the hopes and expectations of the individual and the individual's present experiences [4].
There is a considerable body of literature dedicated to the concept of quality of life. The review of various papers has revealed that there exist two common approaches to measuring the quality of life – the so-called “objective” and “subjective” approaches. This dichotomy is well illustrated in the Costanza R, Fisher B, Ali S, Beer C, Bond L, Boumans R, Danigelis NL, Dickinson J, Elliott C, Farley J, Gayer DE, Glenn LM, Hudspeth T, Mahoney D, McCahill L, McIntosh B, Reed B, Rizvi SAT, Rizzo DM, Simpatico T and Snapp R [5] paper where the authors point out that “QOL [quality of life] is proposed as a multi-scale, multi-dimensional concept that contains interacting objective and subjective elements.” There seems to be a general agreement in the literature that the objective approach constitutes a method of assessing the quality of life that involves the use of aggregate indicators that represent a region as a whole, such as life expectancy at birth, average income, unemployment, etc. Such indicators measure factual states of certain social phenomena rather than abstract concepts such as people’s attitudes or feelings and are normally calculated within systems of official statistics. On the other hand, the subjective approach of measuring the quality of life represents a method that relies on reported people’s perceptions and involves assessments of attitudes and feelings of individuals aggregated to the scale of a particular territory. Such information usually comes from various types of public opinion polls [6].
The absence of a consensual definition led experts from 15 countries in an effort to develop a definition that would capture the fundamental characteristics of QoL. They defined it as:
"The individual’s perception of his/her position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which he/she lives and in relation to his/her goals, expectations, standards and concerns. It is a broad ranging concept affected in a complex way by the person’s physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships and their relationship to salient features of their environment”[7].
The need for a broader and more balanced QoL definition has resulted in widespread adoption of WHO’s definition [8], as it seems to be one of the very few that takes into account the multidimensional nature of the concept. It includes dimensions above and beyond those described in the literature (e.g. [9], while taking into account the individuals’ subjective evaluations and satisfaction with their life [10].
In January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak (COVID-19) an international public health emergency[11]. The global community continues to face high transmission rates of this unpredictable, fast-spreading infectious disease that presents serious challenges to global health [12].
Aiming to slow the spread of the virus, overload of healthcare systems and infection-related mortality, governments around the globe have implemented public health measures (such as isolation, quarantine, physical and social distancing) as fundamental infection control measures [13–16]. These unpleasant changes bring the perception of constrained freedom (sense of loss of control and being trapped, especially in those separated from family), increasing psychological distress and community anxiety ([15, 17]. The unpredictability of the situation makes people uncertain of how safe they are and how worried they should be, elevating fears and misconceptions [15].