Bidirectional Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns on Health Behaviors and Quality of Life among Chinese Adults
Abstract
Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created challenges that have caused profound changes in health behaviors. This study aimed to explore how COVID-19 is affecting the health-related quality of life (QoL) among Chinese adults. Methods: The data of health-related behaviors and QoL were collected via online surveys from 2289 adults (mean age = 27.8 ± 12 years) who had been isolated at home for an average of 77 days. Results: More than 50% of the respondents reported that their time engaged in daily physical activity (PA) decreased, while sedentary behavior (SB) time increased compared with that before the lockdown. Only 20% of the respondents reported engaging in moderate-to-vigorous PA, 23% of adults reported changed their diets to be healthier, and 30% reported consuming more vegetables, fruits, and milk products than before home-isolation. During home-isolation, 75.2% of the adults rated their sleep quality as very good, and 65% reported that they were satisfied with their QoL. Sleep quality mediated the relationship between PA and QoL. Conclusion: The two-to-three-month home-isolation has had mixed effects on adult health behaviors in China. The participants were found to have focused more on their eating quality and patterns, which had a positive influence on their QoL. However, people should be encouraged to exercise at home with limited space to maintain a generally healthy lifestyle during a prolonged quarantine.
Main Authors
Format
Articles
Research article
Published
2020
Series
Subjects
Publication in research information system
Publisher
MDPI
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202008195604Use this for linking
Review status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
1661-7827
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155575
Language
English
Published in
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Citation
- Wang, X., Lei, S. M., Le, S., Yang, Y., Zhang, B., Yao, W., Gao, Z., & Cheng, S. (2020). Bidirectional Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic Lockdowns on Health Behaviors and Quality of Life among Chinese Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(15), Article 5575. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155575
Additional information about funding
The study was funded by the start-up plan for new young teachers grant (Grant AF4150043) and Zhiyuan
Foundation (Grant CP2014013) from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China.
Copyright© 2020 the Authors