The Influence of COVID-19-Induced Daily Activities on Health Parameters—A Case Study in Malaysia

Mujahid Ali,Najib Mohammed Yahya Almahbashi,Muhammad Kashif Shad,Roman Fediuk,Aleksey Borovkov,Ihtisham Ul Haq,Mudassir Ali Khan,Markssuel T Marvila,Faisal Masood,Roman Timokhin,Abdul Muhaimin Memon,Muhammad Imran Khan,Afonso R G De Azevedo

doi:10.3390/su13137465

Abstract

Since December 2019, the COVID-19 epidemic has been spreading all over the world. This epidemic has brought a risk of death in the daily activity (physical and social) participation that influences travellers’ physical, social, and mental health. To analyze the impact of the COVID-19-induced daily activities on health parameters of higher education institutes, 150 students of the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Perak, Malaysia, were surveyed through an online web survey using random sampling techniques. The data were analyzed through RStudio and SPSS using multilevel linear regression analysis and Hierarchical Structural Equation Modeling. The estimated results indicate that restricting individuals from doing out-of-home activities negatively influences physical and social health. A unit increase in the in-home maintenance activities during the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a daily increase of 0.5% in physical health. Moreover, a unit increase in the in-home activities at leisure time represents a 1% positive improvement in social health. Thus, physical activity has proven to be beneficial in improving physical and social health with severe COVID-19. In contrast, the coefficient of determination (R2) for all endogenous variables ranges from 0.148 to 0.227, which is incredibly acceptable in psychological research. For a healthier society with a better quality of life, this study adopted multidisciplinary approaches that are needed to be designed.

Highlights

In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)was discovered in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China, and spread worldwide, almost reaching an unprecedented scale
This study investigates the influence of daily activity participation during the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and social health of Universiti Teknologi
The current study statistically evaluated the influence of time-use and activity travel participation, activity–travel patterns, travel parameters, social engagement within a family and other family members, and socio-demographic variables on health parameters using physical activity intensity at work and leisure time as mediation variables during the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Introduction

In December 2019, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2)was discovered in Wuhan city, Hubei Province, China, and spread worldwide, almost reaching an unprecedented scale. On 12 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a novel coronavirus disease 2019 and named the disease COVID-19 [1]. In some weeks, positive cases of COVID-19 were detected in many other countries of the world, becoming a global threat, and the WHO declared the coronavirus as a pandemic [1]. Several world regions are severely affected by the significant outbreak: China, Europe, Italy, South Korea, Iran, and United States. By 31 July 2020, COVID-19 had spread across more than 217 countries and territories, with approximately 17.1 million confirmed cases and 668,073 deaths [3]. As of (March 2021), there is a variation in confirmed cases and deaths of COVID-19, so it is extremely important to prevent and combat the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 [4]

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Results

Conclusion