Effects of COVID-19 Lockdown on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Satisfaction with Life in Qatar: A Preliminary Study

Souhail Hermassi, Maha Sellami, Ahmad Salman, Abdulla S. Al-Mohannadi, El Ghali Bouhafs, Lawrence D. Hayes and René Schwesig
Additional contact information
Souhail Hermassi: Physical Education Department, College of Education, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
Maha Sellami: Physical Education Department, College of Education, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
Ahmad Salman: Physical Education Department, College of Education, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar
Abdulla S. Al-Mohannadi: World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), Qatar Foundation, Doha 5825, Qatar
El Ghali Bouhafs: Department of Sports Science, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, Germany
Lawrence D. Hayes: School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Glasgow G72 0LH, UK
René Schwesig: Department of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, 06120 Halle, Germany

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-14

Abstract: This study examined the effects of home confinement on physical activity (PA) and life satisfaction during the COVID-19 outbreak in Qatar. A total of 1144 subjects participated (male: n = 588; female: n = 556; age: 33.1 ± 11.1 years; mass: 76.1 ± 16.4 kg; height: 1.70 ± 0.11 m; body mass index (BMI): 26.1 ± 4.44 kg/m 2 ). Online survey questions considered “before” and “during” confinement. Confinement reduced all PA intensities (η p 2 = 0.27–0.67, p < 0.001) and increased daily sitting time from 3.57 ± 1.47 to 6.32 ± 1.33 h per weekday (η p 2 = 0.67, p < 0.001). The largest reduction was detected for the sum parameter all physical activity (minutes per week, η p 2 = 0.67, p < 0.001; MET (metabolic equivalent of task)-minutes/week, η p 2 = 0.69, p < 0.001). Life satisfaction decreased, with the score for “I am satisfied with my life” (η p 2 = 0.76, p < 0.001) decreasing from 28.1 ± 4.81 to 14.2 ± 6.41 arbitrary units (AU). Concerning life satisfaction, the largest change was detected for the statement “the conditions of my life are excellent” (d male = 7.93). For all parameters, time effects were indicative of large negative effects in both genders. In terms of magnitude, the difference between gender was greatest for the parameter “the conditions of my life are excellent” (difference between groups, d = 4.84). In conclusion, COVID-19 confinement decreased PA, increased sitting time, and decreased life satisfaction in Qatar. These precautionary findings explicate the risk of psychosocial impairment and the potential physical harm of reducing physical activity during early COVID-19 confinement in 2020.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; lockdown; public health; physical activity; sedentary behavior; home confinement; lifestyle and contentment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3093/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/6/3093/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:6:p:3093-:d:519072

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().