The objectives of this study were to compare the prevalence of depressive symptoms, behavioral habits, and QoL in students from two vocational–technical schools, and to determine the association of depressive symptoms with behavioral habits and quality of life (QoL) in these students during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with students attending the institution of the Brazilian Federal Network of Professional, Scientific and Technological Education. The students answered a questionnaire on sociodemographic variables, situations related to the COVID-19 pandemic, behavioral habits, QoL, and depressive symptoms. The outcome variable was the presence of depressive symptoms, assessed using the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI). Poisson regression analysis with robust variance was performed. A total of 343 students participated in this study (women, 55.7%; mean age of 16.1 ± 0.93 years). The prevalence of depressive symptoms among students was 43.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 38.0–49.0), and these symptoms were significantly associated with being female (prevalence ratio [PR] 1.72; 95% CI: 1.31–2.27); being in the 10th grade (PR: 1.80; 95% CI: 1.18–2.76) and 9th grade (PR 2.08; 95% CI: 1.37–3.18); social isolation (PR: 2.04; 95% CI: 1.00–4.14); hunger due to a lack of food at home (PR: 1.78; 95% CI: 1.33–2.39); low physical activity levels (PR: 1.68; 95% CI: 1.09–2.59); and moderate (PR: 2.87, 95% CI: 1.68–4.89) and low QoL (PR: 5.66; 95% CI: 3.48–9.19). The results emphasize the importance of interventions aimed mainly at female students and those in the initial years of high school, in addition to the importance of physical activity, food safety, and QoL to improve the mental health of students.
(1) Background: Physical inactivity is a major public health problem that affects a significant number of adolescents throughout the world. Attaining regular physical activity is a major challenge for adolescents who study full-time. This study aimed to examine the associations between barriers to physical activity, physical activity levels, and time exposed to sedentary behavior during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic among adolescent full-time students at an institute of professional and technical education. (2) Methods: We employed mixed methods in this case study, which enrolled 119 adolescent students (52.9% of whom were female). More specifically, we applied the Barriers to Physical Activity Questionnaire and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and conducted semi-structured interviews. Our statistical analysis was based on Poisson regression with robust variance, and our qualitative analysis was based on content analysis. (3) Results: The adolescents frequently presented with a “low” level of physical activity (44.4%, n = 52). The following barriers were associated with a low level of physical activity: lack of time (prevalence ratio (PR) 1.546; confidence interval (CI) 1.111–2.151), lack of motivation (PR 1.573; CI 1.102–2.245), preference for other activities (PR 1.521; CI 1.073–2.155), lack of facilities close to home (PR 1.576; CI 1.077–2.307), laziness (PR 1.463; CI 1.031–2.076), and no way of getting to a facility (PR 1.619; CI 1.005–2.606). (4) Conclusions: We observed that physical activity barriers in the psychological, cognitive, emotional, and environmental dimensions were associated with low levels of physical activity. The students reported that full-time study was a barrier to physical activity that contributed negatively to their physical activity levels and time exposed to sedentary behaviors.
Back pain is a public health problem that affects adolescents and adults worldwide. However, studies on back pain present inconsistent findings in part due to the use of different instruments, especially for athletes. Therefore, the objective of this systematic review protocol was to map the existing evidence on such tools. The systematic review will be conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Five electronic databases, Embase, MEDLINE, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL, and Scopus will be searched. This review includes studies that investigated prevalence, incidence, and other variables. Titles and abstracts will be selected. Two independent reviewers will read the articles carefully and discrepancies, if any, will be dealt with by a third reviewer. All steps will be completed with Rayyan for systematic reviews and the methodological quality will be analyzed with a COSMIN checklist. Discussion: This systematic review will gather evidence on tools that assess back pain in athletes. The findings may indicate the most appropriate tools for assessing back pain. They will contribute to better reliability, safe measurements, and help to standardize a comparison tool between different studies. They will also assist in the development of specific tools for athletes. Registration: This review was submitted and registered under CRD42020201299 in PROSPERO.
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