Indoor Environmental Quality in Dwellings and Lifestyle Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Russian Perspective

Abstract

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern, and as a response, public health authorities started enforcing preventive measures like self-isolation and social distancing. The enforcement of isolation has consequences that may affect the lifestyle-related behavior of the general population. Quarantine encompasses a range of strategies that can be used to detain, isolate, or conditionally release individuals or populations infected or exposed to contagious diseases and should be tailored to circumstances. Interestingly, medical students may represent an example of how the COVID-19 pandemic can form new habits and change lifestyle behaviors. We conducted a web-based survey to assess changes in lifestyle-related behavior of self-isolated medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Then we analyzed the sanitary-hygienic regulations of the Russian Federation to determine the requirements for healthy buildings. Results showed that during the pandemic, the enforcement of isolation affects medical students’ lifestyle-related behavior and accompanies an increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and healthy buildings are cutting-edge factors in preventing COVID-19 and NCDs. The Russian sanitary-hygienic regulations support improving this factor with suitable requirements for ventilation, sewage, waste management, and disinfection. Herein, assessing isolation is possible through the hygienic self-isolation index.

Os impactos da Pandemia do COVID-19 na saúde mental dos estudantes

“…Dessa forma, os cuidados de saúde da população impõe uma sobrecarga emocional não somente aos profissionais da saúde, mas também aos estudantes desse âmbito (Reshetnikov, 2021, Perez et al, 2020.…”

Psychological State and Subjective Environmental Perception of College Students Residing in Dormitories during Quarantine: A Case Study

“…The results show that, except on rainy days, when windows and doors were more often closed to prevent rainwater from entering the room, many students chose to open their windows, which was beneficial to the physical health of the residents. For the aim of the prevention and control of the virus, the timely opening of doors and windows to introduce fresh air for natural ventilation is very effective [62][63][64][65]. In contrast, balcony doors are opened less frequently than windows, which may be to reduce excess wind and prevent the temperature and humidity of the indoor environment from being too much affected by the outside world.…”

Housing and Health: Here We Go Again

“…Defining the appropriate amount of internal space for a dwelling is a complex issue and there is not a vast amount of evidence-based data on space standards. It is not only related to floor area, but also to several different parameters that can influence air circulation and space perception, among which are ceiling heights, walls colors, rooms proportions (length, depth, diagonals), windows size, and natural lightening [6,[44][45][46].…”