Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
Date Submitted: Dec 7, 2020
Open Peer Review Period: Dec 7, 2020 - Dec 21, 2020
Date Accepted: Feb 22, 2021
Date Submitted to PubMed: Apr 14, 2021
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Physical Activity, Nutritional Habits and Sleeping Behavior in Health Professions Students and Employees of a Swiss University of Applied Sciences During the COVID-19 Lockdown Period: a Questionnaire Survey Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 led to the COVID-19 pandemic since January 2020. The Swiss Federal Council prescribed a lockdown of non-essential businesses. Students and employees of institutions for higher education had to install home-office and online lectures.
Objective:
The aim of this survey was to evaluate lifestyle habits such as physical activity (PA), sitting time, nutritional (expressed as median Mediterranean Diet Score; mMDS) and alcohol consumption habits and sleeping behavior during a two months period of confinement and social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic in students and employees of a Swiss University of Applied Sciences.
Methods:
All students and employees from the Bern University of Applied Sciences – Department of Health Professions (Nursing, Nutrition and Dietetics, Midwifery, Physiotherapy) were invited to complete an anonymous online survey during the COVID-19 confinement period. Information on the lifestyle dimensions PA, sitting time, nutritional and alcohol consumption habits and sleep was gathered using adaptations of validated questionnaires. Frequency analyses and non-parametric statistical methods were used for data analyses. Significance was set at 5% level of alpha error.
Results:
Prevalence of non-health enhancing PA was 37.1% with participants of the division of physiotherapy showing lowest prevalence. Prevalence of long sitting time (> 8 hours.day-1) was 36.1%. Median mMDS was 9 on 15 with participants of the division of nutrition and dietetics being more adherent to a Mediterranean diet as compared to the other groups. Prevalence of non-adherence to the Swiss alcohol consumption recommendations was 8.3%. Prevalence of low sleeping quality was 44.7% while median sleeping duration was eight hours, which is considered healthy for adult populations.
Conclusions:
Results of this survey and subgroup analyses offer an opportunity to plan more group-specific health promotion interventions. Clinical Trial: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04502108
Citation
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