Physical activity and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic
Citation: Marconcin P, Werneck AO, Peralta M, et al. The effects of physical activity on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review. BMC Public Health. 2022;22:209.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: The authors reported they had no external funding for this review.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for observational studies that examined the association between physical activity (PA) and mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. They restricted their searches to articles published in English and excluded studies of participants with a chronic illness, previous COVID-19 infection, pregnancy, or who were athletes or frail older adults. The authors searched in January 2021 and found 19 studies.
What was found: Regardless of age, higher levels of physical activity were associated with improved mental well-being and quality of life, and fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, or stress. Women were more vulnerable to mental health changes and affected more by reduced PA levels. Men were affected more by the reduction of PA due to pandemic restrictions.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that the findings clarified the positive association of physical activity with mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health agencies should prioritise physical activity when implementing health interventions.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of gender, sex, and age.
This summary was prepared by Joly Ghanawi, checked by Grace Meng, and finalized by William Summerskill.