According to a Kaiser Permanente study published on November 11 in the journal Preventive Medicine, persons who exercised more during the initial lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic experienced less anxiety and depression than those who did not exercise during the lockdown period. People who spent more time outside were shown to have lower levels of anxiety and depression than those who stayed indoors, according to the study.
Over 20,000 participants from six Kaiser Permanente regions across the United States took part in the survey-based study, which was conducted in places as diverse as Hawaii, Colorado, Georgia, the mid-Atlantic states, as well as Southern and Northern California.
This study’s lead author, Deborah Rohm Young, Ph.D., director of the Division of Behavioral Research for the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Department of Research & Evaluation, stated, “What these study findings tell us is that even during an active pandemic or other public health crisis, people should be encouraged to be physically active to help maintain their physical and mental health,” The National Park Service recommends that parks and other natural places stay open during public health emergencies in order to encourage outdoor physical exercise.
COVID-19 became a worldwide epidemic in March 2020 after spreading around the world. Because there was no known remedy, public health officials attempted to slow the spread of the virus by instituting rules that encouraged people to stay at home. Businesses were forced to close or adjust their operations in order to avoid the spread of the virus, which had a negative impact on the economy and the jobs of many people. Many people’s symptoms of sadness and anxiety have gotten worse as a result of these stressful situations, as well as fewer opportunities to socialize with their friends and family.
Physical activity and time spent in nature have been shown to be associated with improved mental health, and researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California wanted to see if this was true during the height of the pandemic. They conducted a study to find out how people’s mental health was affected by exercise and time spent outdoors.
Scientists will send a series of COVID-19 surveys to more than 250,000 participants in the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank, which is a collection of lifestyle surveys, electronic health record data, and biospecimens that Kaiser Permanente members voluntarily contributed to. People who reported COVID-19 symptoms were excluded from this study, which resulted in a total of 20,012 respondents in this study. Between April 2020 and July 2020, they each completed a minimum of four questionnaires.
White women over the age of 50 who were white made up a large majority of the responses. The majority of respondents stated that they were retired and that they generally followed the “safer-at-home” orders throughout the time period covered by the study. According to the findings of the study:
Anxiety and despair were reported less frequently over time. When comparing white respondents to Asian and Black respondents, females and younger persons scored higher on anxiety and depression scales, whereas Asian and Black respondents scored lower on anxiety and depression scales. Individuals who reported no physical activity had the highest levels of depression and anxiety when compared to those who reported having exercised. Spending less time outside was found to be connected with higher levels of despair and anxiety. People who had increased their time spent outdoors the most reported the highest levels of worry, but the researchers were unable to explain why this was the case.
In the wake of these findings, Dr. Young stated that it will be vital in the future to carefully assess the choice to close parks and outdoor places against the harmful impact that such closures may have on people’s mental health in the event of a disaster.