Abstract
(1) Background: The aim of the study was to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the mental health and quality of life of male and female physical therapy students at the European University of Madrid. (2) Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was conducted including a range of tests capturing different domains: 36-item Short Form Health Survey, six-item state version of the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire, Three Items Loneliness Scale, four-item version of the Perceived Stress Scale, Beck Depression Inventory revised version, and Sleep Quality Numeric Rating Scale. (3) Results: A total of 151 students completed the study, consisting of 78 females and 73 males. Gender differences were observed on most of the domains evaluated. Female participants showed worse levels of general health perception, quality of life, depression symptoms, anxiety, stress, experiential avoidance and psychological inflexibility, sleep quality and loneliness compared to male physical therapy students. (4) Conclusions: The results of this study support the need of psychological interventions as preventive programs in situations such as COVID-19 pandemic. The aims of this study comprise of improving knowledge, awareness, and self-coping strategies or other psychological domains oriented to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on mental health and health-related quality of life in university students, especially among female ones.
Highlights
As a consequence of the COVID-19 global pandemic, lockdowns were imposed inSpain from March to May 2020 intending to minimize interpersonal contact and avoid the spread of the virus
Forms (Menlo Park, CA, USA) survey was mailed to all physical therapy students registered at the European University of Madrid (EUM) by using internal registries
According to Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) and psychological health-related outcomes, we found significant sex differences in the scores of the domains of the HRQoL in 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) test evaluating physical functioning, vitality, social function, emotional and mental health, with female participants showing significantly lower HRQoL levels
Summary
As a consequence of the COVID-19 global pandemic, lockdowns were imposed inSpain from March to May 2020 intending to minimize interpersonal contact and avoid the spread of the virus. As a consequence of the COVID-19 global pandemic, lockdowns were imposed in. The virus mainly affects the respiratory system in such an aggressive way that it may require hospitalization or intensive care. This resulted in a drastic reduction in the mobility and activities of Spain’s population [1,2,3]. The use of surgical and N95 masks for a chronic time is related to increased sympathetic modulation due to the increased hypoxia state, that carries increased stress, headaches, impaired motor and cognitive function [4]. Lockdowns may lead to boredom and reductions in reinforcement, which have been associated with physical and psychological symptoms, such as decreased
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