Impact of COVID-19 on eating habits, physical activity and sleep in Brazilian healthcare professionals

Abstract

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Brazilian healthcare professionals could have been experiencing impacts on their routine, behavior and mental health. Objective: To investigate changes in the daily life and sleeping habits of healthcare professionals in Brazil. Methods: We conducted an observational and cross-sectional study from May to July 2020. A Google Forms questionnaire was made available to Brazilian healthcare professionals on the WhatsApp mobile application and through the website of the Brazilian Hospital Services Company. Results: The sample (n=710) was mostly composed of women (80.8%), aged between 30 and 40 years old (46.6%), predominantly physicians (41.8%) and residing mostly in the state of Paraíba (66.9%), Brazil. Approximately two-thirds of the total sample had some sleep-related complaints, 25.8% due to difficulty initiating sleep, 29.6% due to difficulty staying asleep and 32.5% due to early morning waking. From the population studied, 28.7% (n=204) reported the use of insomnia medication, and 60.3% (n=123) of these were self-medicating. Some participants reported a change in diet (n=557; 78.5%), especially related to the increase in carbohydrate intake (n=174; 24.5%), and 27% (n=192) of the individuals reported an increase of the consumption of alcoholic beverages. Of the total, 561 (81.8%) reported a change in the practice of physical activity. Conclusion: In this study, Brazilian healthcare professionals showed aspects of quality of life that were more affected during the COVID-19 pandemic than the prevalence seen in surveys of international studies for the general population.

Quality of Life, Sleep Quality, Depression, Anxiety, Stress, Eating Habits, and Social Bounds in Nurses during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic in Qatar (The PROTECTOR Study): A Cross-Sectional, Comparative Study

“…Mota and co-workers found that eating habits have a negative impact on Brazilian healthcare professionals, in which 78.5% of respondents changed their diet, 24.5% reported an increase in carbohydrate intake, and 27% reported an increase in the consumption of alcoholic beverages [53]. The results support the findings of the current study, as we found that nurses working at COVID-19 facilities in Qatar had increased odds of having higher EEQ categories than nurses working in non-COVID-19 facilities.…”

Changes in Workers’ Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Since the initial lockdown restrictions were implemented, the number of studies related to PA and SB during the COVID-19 pandemic has been growing. Previous literature on PA or SB and the present pandemic has mainly focused on the general population [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32], the older population [33][34][35], people with different chronic illnesses [36][37][38], health care professionals [39] or athletes [40,41]. Employees, and especially office workers, are underrepresented.…”

Sleep Habits during COVID-19 Confinement: An Exploratory Analysis from Portugal

“…Many of the studies focused on health professionals: Mota and colleagues studied the Brazilian healthcare professional population and found that about two-thirds of the sample had some sleep-related complaints during the pandemic [9]. A research study conducted among frontline medical staff in the fight against COVID-19 reported that respondents' overall sleep quality was poor, being reported moderate insomnia in 61.67%, and severe insomnia in 26.67% [10].…”

“…Justo-Alonso et colleagues provides evidence that the negative psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic hits young people most strongly [8]. Many studies have focused on health workers [9,10], others on the elderly [11] and others on children [12]. University students have been the target of several studies pointing them as the most affected public [13][14][15].…”