Risk factors of health impairement of university students in Vladivostok during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

THE PURPOSE OF THE WORK: To study the lifestyle factors of students of higher educational institutions in Vladivostok during the period of restrictive measures caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
 MATERIAL AND METHODS: A trend study was conducted. With the help of a Google Forms, a survey of students aged 1824 years, enrolled in IIV courses of educational organizations in Vladivostok, was completed. During statistical processing, descriptive statistics were calculated, Students t-test, Pearsons 2 test, Spearmans non-parametric rank correlation coefficient were used.
 RESULTS: A study of the health of university students showed that 67.511.86% of respondents complained of eye fatigue (63.792.32%), headaches (27.342.15%) when working with electronic means of communication, feeling of heaviness in the head (26.172.12%). A significant direct relationship was determined between the level of the distance education component and the duration of the use of digital devices by students (R=0.16; p=0.03), the time spent using gadgets for educational purposes (R=0.21; p=0.03), frequency of meals (R=0.18; p=0.01). A significant inverse correlation was also found between the total time spent using gadgets and the duration of nighttime sleep (r=0.17; p=0.02). A comparative analysis of the lifestyle features of modern youth during the COVID-19 pandemic and before it began revealed an increase in the number of students with eating disorders. The number of students with 7 h of sleep at night has significantly increased (41.321.96% versus 30.174.26%; 2=5.1; p=0.024), and the number of respondents sleeping 8 h has decreased (13.881.37% versus 20.693.76%; 2=4.33; p=0.038). During training using distance learning technologies, significantly fewer respondents spend in areas with fresh air when they needed to work or study (49.371.99% versus 80.173.70%; 2=37.47; p 0.001).
 CONCLUSION: The identified changes in the lifestyle of students during the COVID-19 pandemic are the risk factors for health impairment, which emphasizes the relevance and need to continue research on this problem.