Africa Centre for Epidemiology, Department of Behavioral Epidemiology, Accra North, P. O. Box AN 16284, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Marketing, Accra Technical University, Accra, Ghana.
Community Ment Health J. 2021 Jan;57(1):79-92. doi: 10.1007/s10597-020-00722-4. Epub 2020 Oct 8.
This study assessed the behavioral outcomes of Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) social distancing protocols and their influences on mental health. An online survey hosted by Survey Monkey was utilized to collect data from residents of three Ghanaian cities of Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. A total of 621 surveys were analyzed, with a sensitivity analysis utilized to select covariates for the regression model. The average age of participants was about 36 years. Findings indicate that reduced physical activity time and a change in sexual activity and smoking frequency are some short-term changes in behavior resulting from social isolation during the lockdown. An increase in sedentary behavior had a negative influence on mental health. For the most part, changes in behaviors in the short-term were associated with lower mental health scores. The study implied that COVID-19 social distancing measures should be implemented alongside public education for discouraging unhealthy changes in behaviors.
这项研究评估了 2019 年冠状病毒（COVID-19）社交距离协议的行为结果及其对心理健康的影响。该研究通过 Survey Monkey 在线调查收集了加纳三个城市阿克拉、库马西和塔马利的居民数据。共分析了 621 份调查，采用敏感性分析为回归模型选择协变量。参与者的平均年龄约为 36 岁。研究结果表明，在封锁期间，社交隔离导致体力活动时间减少，性行为和吸烟频率改变，这是短期行为变化。久坐行为的增加对心理健康有负面影响。在大多数情况下，短期行为变化与心理健康评分较低有关。研究表明，在实施 COVID-19 社交距离措施的同时，应开展公众教育，以防止行为方面出现不健康的变化。
