COVID-19 Pandemic Brings a Sedentary Lifestyle in Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study

  1. Chen Zheng
  2. Wendy Yajun Huang
  3. Sinead Sheridan
  4. Cindy Hui-Ping Sit
  5. Xiang-Ke Chen
  6. Stephen Heung-Sang Wong

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Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to pose profound challenges to society. Its spread has been mitigated through strategies including social distancing; however, this may result in the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle. This study aimed to investigate: (1) physical activity (PA) levels, sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep in young adults during the COVID-19 epidemic, and (2) the change in these behaviors before and during the pandemic. A total of 631 young adults (38.8% males) aged between 18 and 35 participated in the cross-sectional study and completed a one-off online survey relating to general information, PA, SB, and sleep. For the longitudinal study, PA, SB, and sleep data, obtained from 70 participants before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, were analyzed. Participants engaged in low PA, high SB, and long sleep duration during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, a significant decline in PA while an increase in time spent in both SB and sleep was observed during the COVID-19 outbreak. The results of this study demonstrated a sedentary lifestyle in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, which will assist health policymakers and practitioners in the development of population specific health education and behavior interventions during this pandemic and for other future events.

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  1. Version published to 10.3390/ijerph17176035
  2. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.05.22.20110825: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableIndependent samples t tests and Chi Square tests were used to assess the difference between males and females for continuous variables and categorical variables, respectively.

    Table 2: Resources

    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    All statistical tests were performed using SPSS for Windows, version 24 (IBM Corp.,
    SPSS
    suggested: (SPSS, RRID:SCR_002865)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    Limitations and strengths: One major strength of this study is that both cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis were applied in this study. Secondly, there was a relatively large sample size in the cross-sectional analysis. Accordingly, the sample was representative of the young adults in Hong Kong. Thirdly, three behaviors (PA, SB, and sleep), which occupy a large proportion of time in individuals over 24 hours were assessed in the current study. The limitations of this study include the use of subjective measurements to assess PA, SB and sleep, which are associated with increased risk of bias. Though all the questionnaires used in this study have been previously validated, objective measurement, such as use of accelerometer, would be more accurate in assessing PA and SB in participants.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We found bar graphs of continuous data. We recommend replacing bar graphs with more informative graphics, as many different datasets can lead to the same bar graph. The actual data may suggest different conclusions from the summary statistics. For more information, please see Weissgerber et al (2015).

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  3. Version published to 10.1101/2020.05.22.20110825 on medRxiv