COVID-19 in Rural Ontario Communities: Exploring Women's Mental Health During a Pandemic.

Amanda Norton, Laura Rosella, Matthew Adams, Leith Deacon

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

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0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Amanda NortonDepartment of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Room 5047, Sydney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada.

Laura RosellaDivision of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 6th Floor, Health Sciences Building, 155 College Street, Toronto, ON M5T 3M7, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-4867-869X

Matthew AdamsDepartment of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Room 5047, Sydney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-7236-8419

Leith DeaconDepartment of Rural Planning and Development, School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, Guelph University, Room 122, Landscape Architecture, 124 Reynolds Walk, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-4858-3722

Funding

Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance N/A

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeSocio-demographic inequities in mental health were magnified by COVID-19, with women experiencing greater household burden with less support in Canada and globally. While some health patterns during COVID-19 have been observed globally, there is a research gap in rural mental health during COVID-19 in Canada. We hypothesize there is a disparity in mental health decline during COVID-19 between men and women.

methodsIn rural Ontario, mental health was measured through a survey of approximately 18,000 individuals living in seven counties. In 2021, survey respondents were asked to rate their mental health prior to and during COVID-19. Women reported poorer mental health during COVID-19 in comparison to men when tested via chi-squared tests, odds ratios, and percentage change. Responses to survey questions regarding social, financial, and mental health support were then evaluated.

findingsWe found significant disparities in mental health ratings before and during COVID-19 between men and women. Women reported poorer mental health, increased substance use, and increased worry about social, financial, and community stressors. Respondents who self-identified as a woman were associated with poorer mental health outcomes.

conclusionsInterventions should be specific to geographic communities as well as individual needs (e.g., additional financial and childcare support). Rural communities need to be considered as independent geographies rather than as one geography (i.e., urban vs. rural).

Indexed as

COVID-19Mental HealthRural PopulationWomen's HealthAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedOntarioPandemicsSARS-CoV-2Young Adultaccess to caregeographyhealth disparitiesmental health

Identifiers

PMID40566363

DOI10.3390/ijerph22060937

PMCPMC12193585

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata

LicenceCC BY

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.