Department of Psychological Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Singapore.
Department of Sport & Exercise Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Singapore.
Stress Health. 2022 Feb;38(1):171-179. doi: 10.1002/smi.3078. Epub 2021 Jul 12.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has precipitated international lockdown measures to curb disease transmissions. The closure of public activity spaces as well as changes in pandemic workload may disrupt healthcare workers' physical activity and self-care routines. We sought to examine the association between physical activity levels and mental health burden of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Singapore. This cross-sectional study comprised of an multidomain survey that was administered digitally to 707 healthcare workers between 17 May and 18 June 2020. Exercise frequency, duration and intensity of these healthcare workers had reduced significantly during the lockdown compared to pre-lockdown. 25.3%, 37.2%, and 11.9% had screened positive for moderate-to-extremely-severe depression, anxiety and stress respectively. Reductions in exercise duration was a significant risk factor for mild stress and moderate-to-severe depression while increase in exercise frequency was found to be a protective factor against depressed mood. Our study revealed that a short-term reduction in physical activity levels during lockdown was associated with poorer psychological outcomes. Given the protection that exercise confers on depression, physical activity should be promoted at the workplace and at home to support healthcare workers to cope through this protracted health crisis.
新型冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的爆发促使国际采取封锁措施以遏制疾病传播。公共活动场所关闭以及大流行工作量的变化可能会打乱医护人员的体育活动和自我保健常规。我们试图研究在新加坡 COVID-19 封锁期间医护人员的体力活动水平与心理健康负担之间的关联。这项横断面研究包括一项多领域调查，该调查于 2020 年 5 月 17 日至 6 月 18 日期间通过数字方式向 707 名医护人员进行。与封锁前相比，这些医护人员在封锁期间的运动频率、时长和强度显著降低。分别有 25.3%、37.2%和 11.9%的人筛查出中重度至极度抑郁、焦虑和压力。运动时间的减少是轻度压力和中重度至重度抑郁的显著危险因素，而运动频率的增加则被发现是防止情绪低落的保护因素。我们的研究表明，封锁期间体力活动水平的短期降低与较差的心理结果相关。鉴于运动对抑郁的保护作用，应在工作场所和家中促进体育活动，以支持医护人员应对这场旷日持久的健康危机。
