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Impact of the COVID ‐19 pandemic on the physical and psychological health of female college students in Japan
Author(s) -
Washio Sae,
Sai Akira,
Yamauchi Taro
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
nursing and health sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.563
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1442-2018
pISSN - 1441-0745
DOI - 10.1111/nhs.12962
Subject(s) - pandemic , anxiety , psychological intervention , covid-19 , medicine , physical activity , sleep (system call) , anthropometry , gerontology , sleep quality , insomnia , psychology , psychiatry , physical therapy , disease , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , operating system
The spread of COVID‐19 has dramatically changed our lives. This study aimed to examine the lifestyles of female college students, focusing on physical activity, sleep status, and anxiety status during the pandemic (while under a state of emergency) in Japan. A total of 184 female college students completed two questionnaires, anthropometric measurements, and daily activity logs and diet records, in groups of 115 and 69 participants recruited before and during the pandemic, respectively. Findings showed a significant decrease in physical activity: Physical activity levels fell from “normal” to “low” and the daily step counts decreased by nearly half, from 8671 to 4640. In addition, the results from the questionnaires revealed that half of the participants were at risk of having sleep disturbances, and their sleep cycles became more nocturnal, which may have caused higher anxiety states and lower sleep quality during the pandemic. Furthermore, anxiety states worsened, with 100% of the participants experiencing high anxiety during the pandemic. Monitoring lifestyle disturbances during the pandemic is needed for the development of interventions to improve health among young women.