Depression Associated With COVID-19 and its Impact on Physical Activities of Young Adults of Pakistan

Abstract

Introduction: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a cluster of acute respiratory illnesses with unknown etiology, which firstly appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, in December 2019. All educational institutes of Pakistan were completely closed from March 13, 2020, to August 15, 2020. This condition disturbs the daily routines of children with mental health needs. This sudden closure limited their physical activities in their routine life. This study aims to observe the depression associated with COVID-19 and its impact on the physical activities of young adults of Pakistan.
 Materials and Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 384 young adults. A modified depression scale was used to assess depression, and the revised physical activity questionnaire was used to evaluate the physical activity of Pakistani young adults in the past month.
 Results: About 57.8% of the samples were sometimes sad; 44.5% sometimes felt grouchy in the mood; 43.8% never felt hopeless about the future. Also, 32.6% sometimes slept less or more than usual, 35.9% sometimes had difficulty concentrating on their work, 48.7% slept 6-8 hours per day. Besides, 49% engaged 1-3 hours in work or study per day; 43.2% watched TV, sat quietly, or listened to music for 1-3 hours. About 57.8% engaged less than 1 hour per week in light physical activities. Also, 77.9% engaged for less than 1 hour per week in moderately strenuous activities.
 Conclusion: Depression could be highly associated with the COVID-19 outbreak, and it might affect the physical activities of young adults.