Health behavior and anxiety changes during the COVID-19 pandemic among students, faculty, and staff at a US university.

J Am Coll Health

Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA.

Published: October 2024

Objective: To investigate change in health behaviors and anxiety one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Participants: University students ( = 525) and faculty/staff ( = 136) surveyed in February-April 2021.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey on health behaviors and anxiety before and during the pandemic. Comparison by time and between groups using paired t-tests and chi-square tests.

Results: Diet quality of students did not differ comparing before to during the pandemic while diet quality improved among faculty/staff ( = 0.001). Physical activity decreased among students ( < 0.0001). Sedentary time and prevalence of symptomatic anxiety increased among both students and faculty/staff (all  < 0.05). Unhealthy changes in lifestyle and anxiety were more pronounced among those who reported a less healthy diet or weight gain during the pandemic.

Conclusions: Negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity, sedentary time, and anxiety have persisted approximately one year after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in a university population.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2022.2104615DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

health behaviors
8
behaviors anxiety
8
diet quality
8
health behavior
4
behavior anxiety
4
anxiety changes
4
changes covid-19
4
covid-19 pandemic
4
students
4
pandemic students
4

Similar Publications

Background: The inheritance of the short allele, encoding the serotonin transporter (SERT) in humans, increases susceptibility to neuropsychiatric and metabolic disorders, with aging and female sex further exacerbating these conditions. Both central and peripheral mechanisms of the compromised serotonin (5-HT) system play crucial roles in this context. Previous studies on SERT-deficient (Sert) mice, which model human SERT deficiency, have demonstrated emotional and metabolic disturbances, exacerbated by exposure to a high-fat Western diet (WD).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Current nursing shortages, particularly in complex practice or specialty areas, coupled with high attrition rates of both seasoned and new graduate nurses, have required nursing leaders to consider creative approaches to recruit, prepare and retain nurses in specialty areas. This article describes a collaborative partnership between post-secondary institutions and health authorities in one province to address the need to prepare and retain nurses in high-priority specialized areas, such as the intensive care unit or the emergency department. This partnership allows for a proactive connection that leverages the strengths and resources of both healthcare and educational institutions.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diabetes is a chronic lifelong condition that requires consistent self-care and daily lifestyle adjustments. Effective disease management involves regular blood glucose monitoring and ongoing nursing support. Inadequate education and poor self-management are key factors contributing to increased mortality among diabetic individuals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Artificial intelligence (AI), with advantages such as automatic feature extraction and high data processing capacity and being unaffected by fatigue, can accurately analyze images obtained from colonoscopy, assess the quality of bowel preparation, and reduce the subjectivity of the operating physician, which may help to achieve standardization and normalization of colonoscopy. In this study, we aimed to explore the value of using an AI-driven intestinal image recognition model to evaluate intestinal preparation before colonoscopy. In this retrospective analysis, we analyzed the clinical data of 98 patients who underwent colonoscopy in Nantong First People's Hospital from May 2023 to October 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The significance of tactile stimulation in human social development and personal interaction is well documented; however, the underlying cerebral processes remain under-researched. This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of social touch processing, with a particular focus on the functional connectivity associated with the aftereffects of touch.

Methods: A total of 27 experimental subjects were recruited for the study, all of whom underwent a 5-minute calf and foot massage prior to undergoing resting-state fMRI.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!