COVID-19 pandemic in Yemen: A questionnaire based survey, what do we know?

Introduction: Coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently one of the most important public health crises affecting the global human population. It continues to spread widely, as the world still lacks specific treatments and a vaccine for the virus. The scenario of COVID-19 in Yemen seems obscure due to the lack of adequate data, therefore, we developed an electronic questionnaire and distributed it online among Yemeni people. The aim of this study was to understand the COVID-19 epidemiological situation in Yemen better since there is currently limited published data and limited availability of COVID-19 testing.

Methodology: A 34-question web-based survey was distributed on social media outlets targeting people in Yemen. Data aggregation, analysis, and visualization were performed using Tableau and Microsoft Excel.

Results: 2,341 individuals reported symptoms concerning for COVID-19 infection, with 25.4% reporting a chronic medical condition. Diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and immune deficiency were associated with increased severity of the disease, while obesity, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, and liver disease were not. Only 37 individuals (1.6%) had a confirmatory COVID-19 PCR test. The presence of high fever, dyspnea, chest pain, and dysphagia were symptoms that tended to be correlated to worse clinical outcomes.

Conclusions: This study provides some important information about the early overspread of COVID-19 within the Yemeni community in May, June, and July of 2020. It shows that online questionnaires may help in collecting data about pandemics in resource-limited countries where testing availability is limited.