
Preprints with The Lancet is a collaboration between The Lancet Group of journals and SSRN to facilitate the open sharing of preprints for early engagement, community comment, and collaboration. Preprints available here are not Lancet publications or necessarily under review with a Lancet journal. These preprints are early-stage research papers that have not been peer-reviewed. The usual SSRN checks and a Lancet-specific check for appropriateness and transparency have been applied. The findings should not be used for clinical or public health decision-making or presented without highlighting these facts. For more information, please see the FAQs.
Prevalence of Insufficient Physical Activity, Sedentary Screen Time and Emotional Well-Being During the Early Days of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak in China: A National Cross-Sectional Study
28 Pages Posted: 9 Apr 2020
More...Abstract
Background: The pandemic of 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) poses a challenge to health promotion in the days of lockdown. We aimed to evaluate the characteristics of lifestyle in China during the initial stage of COVID-19 lock down.
Methods: The questionnaire was distributed to Chinese adults living in 31 provinces of China via internet using a snowball sampling strategy. Information on 7-day physical activity recall, sedentary screen time, and emotional state were collected between January 24 and February 2, 2020. ANOVA, χ² test, and spearman’s correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis.
Findings: 12107 participants aged 18-80 years old were included. During the initial phase of COVID-19 outbreak, nearly 60% of Chinese adults had inadequate physical activity (95% CI 56.6%-58.3%), which was more than twice the global prevalence (27·5%, 25·0–32·2%). Their mean screen time was more than 4 hours per day during home stay (261·3 ± 189·8 minutes per day). Of all participants, the positive affect score was 24·78 and the negative affect score was 19·34. In addition, we found that the proportions of confirmed COVID-9 cases were positively and significantly correlated with provincial negative affect scores (r=0·501, p =0·004) but not correlated with the prevalence of insufficient physical activity, screen time, and positive scores ( p >0·05). Individuals with vigorous physical activity appeared to have better emotional state and less sedentary screen time than those with light physical activity.
Interpretation: During this nationwide lockdown, more than half of Chinese adults were temporarily living in a sedentary lifestyle with insufficient physical activity, more screen time, and poor emotion states, which may carry considerable health risks. Promotion of home-based self-exercise can potentially help improve health and wellness.
Funding Statement: This study was funded by the National Key Technology R&D Program (2019YFF0301600), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31371195 and 11775059).
Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethics Approval Statement: Full ethical approval was obtained from the China Institute of Sport Science, Beijing, China (CISS-2020-01-28). All participants gave their informed consent.
Keywords: physical activity, home-quarantine
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation