The impact of Covid 19 pandemic on life satisfaction and health ofIranian bank employees

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has affected various aspects of human life. Bank employees who are more in contact with people are more likely to be infected during the pandemic situation. Moreover, mental, physical and social impacts of COVID-19 are more intense among these employees.Objective: this study aims to determine the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on bank employees' health and life satisfaction in Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during the fifth wave of COVID-19 from July to October 2021. The population included all the employees of Tejarat Bank in 20 provinces of Iran, 350 of whom were selected using the multi-stage cluster sampling method. The data were collected by demographic questionnaire, 12-item short-form (SF-12) personal health assessment survey and satisfaction with life scale (SWLS). The objective of the study was examined by the structural equation modeling (SEM).Results: The results showed the two default models of health function (CFI = 0.95) and life satisfaction (CFI = 0.99) had acceptable fit. Assessing the bank employees with COVID-19 revealed this disease had no direct impact on life satisfaction (beta= -0.05, P = 0.28) and health function (beta = 0.04, P = 0.48). However, it had a direct impact on physical function (beta = -0.18, P = 0.001) and, consequently, an indirect impact on life satisfaction. Moreover, low mental function reduced life satisfaction.Conclusion: COVID-19 infection had no direct impact on life satisfaction. However, it had an indirect and positive impact on it. Considering gender showed COVID-19 infection had a direct and positive impact on life satisfaction among women. The employees who recovered from COVID-19 infection reported higher life satisfaction after returning to work for various reasons than those who never got it.