A Year in the Life of U.S. Frontline Health Care Workers: Impact of COVID-19 on Weight Change, Physical Activity, Lifestyle Habits, and Psychological Factors

Abstract

Healthcare workers (HCWs) experienced significantly higher burdens and life demands due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study sought to assess the longitudinal effects among HCWs throughout the pandemic. Qualtrics surveys collected self-reported data on weight changes, eating patterns, physical activity (PA), and psychological factors with data organized by timepoints prior to the pandemic (PP0—prior to March 2020), baseline (M0—January 2021), month 6 (M6—July 2021), and month 12 (M12—January 2022). Eating patterns were negatively impacted at the M0, with reported increases in snacking/grazing (69.7%), fast food/take-out consumption (57.8%), and alcohol (48.8%). However, by M6 and M12 there were no statistically significant differences in eating patterns, suggesting that eating patterns normalized over time. Mean weight increased from PP0 to M0 by 2.99 pounds (p < 0.001, n = 226) and from PP0 to M6 by 2.12 pounds (p < 0.027, n = 146), though the difference in mean weight from PP0 to M12 was not statistically significant (n = 122). PA counts decreased from 8.00 sessions per week PP0 to 6.80 by M0 (p = 0.005) before jumping to 12.00 at M6 (p < 0.001) and 10.67 at M12 (p < 0.001). Psychological factors comparing M0 to M12 found statistically significant differences for depression (p-value = 0.018) and anxiety (p-value = 0.001), meaning depression and anxiety were initially increased but improved by M12. Additionally, higher scores on depression and insomnia scales were associated with lower PA levels. These overall results imply that the COVID-19 pandemic had immediate effects on the eating patterns, weight changes, PA, and psychological factors of HCWs; however, routines and lifestyle habits appeared to have normalized one year later.

Coping with burnout and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers’ mental health: A systematic review

“…The COVID-19 Pandemic has been ongoing since 2020, with a significant negative impact on workers' health worldwide, not just limited to physical wellbeing, but also affecting psychological wellbeing (1)(2)(3)(4). COVID-19 has had an impact on occupational health both directly and indirectly.…”

Physical discomforts, feeling of the high work intensity and the related risk factors of the frontline medical staff during COVID-19 epidemic: an early-outbreak, national survey in China

“…Furthermore, Vancappel ( 39 ) reported that post-traumatic symptoms were also highly prevalent among French healthcare workers at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and they found a significant effect of the level of exposure to COVID-19 on affective symptoms. In the study by Oliver TL, the results implied that the COVID-19 pandemic had immediate effects on the eating patterns, weight changes, PA, and psychological factors of healthcare workers ( 40 ). In a large-scale survey during the COVID-19 pandemic, the results indicated that nurses who identified as women, working in ICUs, COVID-19 designated hospitals, and departments involved with treating COVID-19 patients had higher scores in mental health outcomes ( 41 ).…”

Burnout, emotional distress and sleep quality among Chinese psychiatric healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a follow-up study

“…The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers (HCWs) has been well documented in the literature ( 4 ). However, different from the very early stages of the pandemic ( 5 ), the phenomenon of overwork, burnout, and chronic mental health problems among HCWs has become a challenge that requires significant attention ( 6 , 7 ).…”