Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has affected people’s lives globally. While important research has been conducted, much remains to be known. In Bangladesh, initial treatment (self-administered, hospitalized), persistent COVID-19 symptoms (“long COVID-19”), and whether COVID-19 leads to changes in mental state, such as depressive symptoms, of people are not known. This study aimed to examine treatment, persistent symptoms, and depression in people who had been infected with COVID-19 in Bangladesh. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 1002 individuals infected with COVID-19 (60% male; mean age = 34.7 ± 13.9; age range = 18–81 years), with data taken over a one-month period (11 September 2020 to 13 October 2020). A self-reported online questionnaire was used to collect data on socio-demographics, lifestyle, COVID-19 symptoms (during and beyond COVID-19), medication (over-the-counter or doctor-prescribed), and depression (assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)). Results: Twenty-four percent of participants self-medicated with over-the-counter medicine when they were first diagnosed with COVID-19. Self-medication was higher among female vs. male respondents (29.6% vs. 20.2%, respectively, p = 0.002). A minority (20%) reported that they experienced persistent COVID-like symptoms after recovering from COVID-19. The most reported persistent symptoms were diarrhea (12.7%) and fatigue (11.5%). Forty-eight percent of participants were categorized as having moderate to severe depression. Based on multivariate regression analysis, depression during COVID-19 was positively associated with lower family income, poor health status, sleep disturbance, lack of physical activity, hypertension, asthma/respiratory problems, fear of COVID-19 re-infection, and persistent COVID-19 symptoms. Conclusions: The findings suggest a need for appropriate interventions for COVID-19 patients to promote physical and mental wellbeing.

INTRODUCTION: Knowledge about non-communicable diseases among college students has not been explored in Bangladesh, which is a growing concern for the country. This study aims to explore the knowledge level of two common non-communicable diseases: diabetes and hypertension, among college students. This study also aimed to explore the patterns of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and eating habits among them. The overall findings based on this study will provide a good source of information for implementing any intervention if required in the future. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 651 students aged between 14 and 17 years with a self-administered questionnaire between March and May 2019 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Descriptive studies, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression analysis were done according to the association of the variables. All data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. RESULTS: The study reported that 60.4% of students belonged to the older (16+ years) age group. 66.2% of students were from the science faculty. 51% of students had normal BMI though female BMI was slightly higher than male (51.1% vs. 50.8%). Underweight was more prevalent among females (30.6% vs. 24.6%) and overweight was more prevalent among male students (24.6% vs. 18.3%). Knowledge on diabetes was slightly higher compared to hypertension though most of the correct answers in both disease knowledge came from science faculty students. Binary logistic regression analysis showed diabetes knowledge of business faculty students was 60% less (OR = 0.4; 95% CI = 0.3-0.7; P = 0.001) and arts faculty students was 60% less (OR = 0.4; 95% CI = 0.2-0.9; P < 0.05) comparing with science faculty students. It was found that males were more likely to participate in outdoor physical activities such as walking (74.2% vs. 62.7%), cycling (17.8% vs. 1.7%), and sports (39.8% vs. 5.8%) compared to females. However, females were found to have a higher participation rate in household chores at 75.7% while males had a participation rate of 62.3%. Female students spent more time on sedentary behavior than male students: sitting (89.4% vs. 78%); using social media (88.2% vs. 74.2%); watching YouTube (96.1% vs. 87.3%). The breakfast intake rate was higher among male students than female students (73.3% vs. 51.5%) and the skipping rate was higher among female students (48.9% vs. 26.7%). The situation was the same for lunch and supper intake. However, the fast-food consumption rate was slightly higher among male than female students (78.4% vs. 73.5%). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the study reported overall knowledge of diabetes and hypertension was good among students though most of the correct answers came from science faculty students compared to the other group. Male involvement in outdoor physical activity was significantly higher than female students but, female students spent more time on sedentary behaviour. Male students had a higher prevalence of regular meal intake than female students. However, male students also showed more prevalence of fast-food consumption and overweight status. The findings of this study could be useful for designing appropriate health promotion interventions.