Effects of home confinement on mental health and lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak: insights from the ECLB-COVID19 multicentre study

Achraf Ammar; Khaled Trabelsi; Michael Brach; Hamdi Chtourou; Omar Boukhris; Liwa Masmoudi; Bassem Bouaziz; Ellen Bentlage; Daniella How; Mona Ahmed; Patrick Mueller; Notger Mueller; Omar Hammouda; Laisa Liane Paineiras-Domingos; Annemarie Braakman-Jansen; Christian Wrede; Sophia Bastoni; Carlos Soares Pernambuco; Leonardo Mataruna; Morteza Taheri; Khadijeh Irandoust; Aïmen Khacharem; Nicola L Bragazzi; Jana Strahler; Jad Adrian; Albina Andreeva; Jordan M Glenn; Nicholas T Bott; Faiez Gargouri; Lotfi Chaari; Hadj Batatia; Samira C Khoshnami; Evangelia Samara; Vasiliki Zisi; Parasanth Sankar; Waseem N Ahmed; Gamal Mohamed Ali; Osama Abdelkarim; Mohamed Jarraya; Kais El Abed; Wassim Moalla; Mohamed Romdhani; Asma Aloui; Nizar Souissi; Pijnen Lisette Van Gemert; Bryan L Riemann; Laurel Riemann; Jan Delhey; Jonathan Gómez-Raja; Monique Epstein; Robbert Sanderman; Sebastian Schulz; Achim Jerg; Ramzi Al-Horani; Taysir Mansi; Mohamed Jmail; Fernando Barbosa; Fernando Ferreira-Santos; Boštjan Šimunič; Rado Pišot; Saša Pišot; Andrea Gaggioli; Piotr Zmijewski; Stephen J Bailey; Jürgen Steinacker; Karim Chamari; Tarak Driss; Anita Hoekelmann

doi:10.5114/biolsport.2020.96857

Effects of home confinement on mental health and lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak: insights from the ECLB-COVID19 multicentre study

Biol Sport. 2021 Mar;38(1):9-21. doi: 10.5114/biolsport.2020.96857. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

Authors

Achraf Ammar^{1

2}, Khaled Trabelsi^{3

4}, Michael Brach⁵, Hamdi Chtourou^{3

6}, Omar Boukhris^{3

6}, Liwa Masmoudi³, Bassem Bouaziz⁷, Ellen Bentlage⁵, Daniella How⁵, Mona Ahmed⁵, Patrick Mueller^{8

9}, Notger Mueller^{8

9}, Omar Hammouda^{2

3}, Laisa Liane Paineiras-Domingos^{10

11}, Annemarie Braakman-Jansen¹², Christian Wrede¹², Sophia Bastoni^{12

13}, Carlos Soares Pernambuco¹⁴, Leonardo Mataruna¹⁵, Morteza Taheri¹⁶, Khadijeh Irandoust¹⁶, Aïmen Khacharem¹⁷, Nicola L Bragazzi^{18

19}, Jana Strahler²⁰, Jad Adrian²¹, Albina Andreeva²², Jordan M Glenn²³, Nicholas T Bott²⁴, Faiez Gargouri⁷, Lotfi Chaari^{2

5}, Hadj Batatia²⁵, Samira C Khoshnami²⁶, Evangelia Samara²⁷, Vasiliki Zisi²⁸, Parasanth Sankar²⁹, Waseem N Ahmed³⁰, Gamal Mohamed Ali³¹, Osama Abdelkarim^{31

32}, Mohamed Jarraya³, Kais El Abed³, Wassim Moalla³, Mohamed Romdhani⁶, Asma Aloui⁶, Nizar Souissi⁶, Pijnen Lisette Van Gemert¹², Bryan L Riemann³³, Laurel Riemann³⁴, Jan Delhey³⁵, Jonathan Gómez-Raja³⁶, Monique Epstein³⁷, Robbert Sanderman³⁸, Sebastian Schulz³⁹, Achim Jerg³⁹, Ramzi Al-Horani⁴⁰, Taysir Mansi⁴¹, Mohamed Jmail⁴², Fernando Barbosa⁴³, Fernando Ferreira-Santos⁴⁴, Boštjan Šimunič⁴⁵, Rado Pišot⁴⁵, Saša Pišot⁴⁵, Andrea Gaggioli⁴⁶, Piotr Zmijewski⁴⁷, Stephen J Bailey⁴⁸, Jürgen Steinacker³⁹, Karim Chamari^#⁴⁹, Tarak Driss^#⁵⁰, Anita Hoekelmann^#¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sport Science, Otto-von-Guericke University, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany.
² Research Laboratory, Molecular Bases of Human Pathology, LR12ES17, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
³ High Institute of Sport and Physical Education of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
⁴ Research Laboratory: Education, Motricity, Sport and Health, EM2S, LR19JS01, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
⁵ Institute of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Münster, Münster, Germany.
⁶ Physical Activity, Sport, and Health, UR18JS01, National Observatory of Sport, Tunis, Tunisia.
⁷ Higher Institute of Computer Science and Multimedia of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax 3000, Tunisia.
⁸ Research Group Neuroprotection, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Germany.
⁹ Medical Faculty, Department of Neurology, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
¹⁰ Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹¹ Faculdade Bezerra de Araújo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
¹² Department of Psychology, Health & Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherland.
¹³ Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy.
¹⁴ Laboratório de Fisiologia do Exercício, Estácio de Sá University, Brasil.
¹⁵ Canadian University of Dubai, Faculty of Management, Department of Sport Management, United Arab Emirates, UAE.
¹⁶ Faculty of Social Science, Imam Khomeini International University, Qazvin, Iran.
¹⁷ UVHC, DeVisu, Valenciennes ; LIRTES-EA 7313. Université Paris Est Créteil Val de Marne, France.
¹⁸ Department of Health Sciences, Postgraduate School of Public Health, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy.
¹⁹ Laboratory for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.
²⁰ Department of Psychology and Sport Science, University of Gießen, Gießen, Germany.
²¹ Sports Performance Division, National Sports Institute of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
²² Department of Sports Biomechanics, Moscow Center of Advanced Sport Technologies, 129272 Moscow, Russia.
²³ Exercise Science Research Center, Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA.
²⁴ Clinical Excellence Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, USA.
²⁵ Computer science department, University of Toulouse, IRIT-INP-ENSEEIHT, Toulouse, France.
²⁶ UFR STAPS, UPL, Paris Nanterre University, Nanterre, France.
²⁷ Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center, Athens, Greece.
²⁸ Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, University of Thessaly, Greece.
²⁹ Consultant in internal medicine and diabetes, MGM muthoot hospitals pathanamthitta, Kerala, India 689645.
³⁰ Consultant family physician, CRAFT hospital and research centre, Kodungallur, Kerala, India.
³¹ Faculty of Physical Education, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
³² Institute for Sports and Sports Science, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Karlsruher, Germany.
³³ Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA, USA.
³⁴ PharmD, BCBS; PharmIAD, Inc,Savannah, GA, USA.
³⁵ Institute of Social Science, Otto-von-Guericke University, 39106, Magdeburg, Germany.
³⁶ FundeSalud, Dept. of Health and Social Services, Government of Extremadura, Merida, Spain.
³⁷ The E-Senior Association, Paris, France.
³⁸ Department of Health Psychology, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
³⁹ Sports- and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ulm University Hospital, Leimgrubenweg, Germany.
⁴⁰ Department of Exercise Science, Yarmouk University, Irbid, Jordan.
⁴¹ Faculty of Physical Education, The University of Jordan, Jordan.
⁴² Digital Research Centre of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia.
⁴³ Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology, Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
⁴⁴ ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, Av. das Forças Armadas, Lisboa, Portugal.
⁴⁵ Institute for Kinesiology Research, Science and Research Centre Koper, Garibaldijeva 1, Koper, Slovenia.
⁴⁶ Catholic University of the Sacred Heart I UNICATT, Milano, Italy.
⁴⁷ Institute of Sport - National Research Institute, 01-982 Warsaw, Poland.
⁴⁸ School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough E11 3TU, UK.
⁴⁹ ASPETAR, Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar and Laboratory ''Sport Performance Optimization'', (CNMSS); ISSEP Ksar-Said, Manouba University, Tunisia.
⁵⁰ Interdisciplinary Laboratory in Neurosciences, Physiology and Psychology: Physical Activity, Health and Learning (LINP2-2APS), UFR STAPS, UPL, Paris Nanterre University, 92000 Nanterre, France.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Although recognised as effective measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, social distancing and self-isolation have been suggested to generate a burden throughout the population. To provide scientific data to help identify risk factors for the psychosocial strain during the COVID-19 outbreak, an international cross-disciplinary online survey was circulated in April 2020. This report outlines the mental, emotional and behavioural consequences of COVID-19 home confinement. The ECLB-COVID19 electronic survey was designed by a steering group of multidisciplinary scientists, following a structured review of the literature. The survey was uploaded and shared on the Google online survey platform and was promoted by thirty-five research organizations from Europe, North Africa, Western Asia and the Americas. Questions were presented in a differential format with questions related to responses "before" and "during" the confinement period. 1047 replies (54% women) from Western Asia (36%), North Africa (40%), Europe (21%) and other continents (3%) were analysed. The COVID-19 home confinement evoked a negative effect on mental wellbeing and emotional status (P < 0.001; 0.43 ≤ d ≤ 0.65) with a greater proportion of individuals experiencing psychosocial and emotional disorders (+10% to +16.5%). These psychosocial tolls were associated with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours with a greater proportion of individuals experiencing (i) physical (+15.2%) and social (+71.2%) inactivity, (ii) poor sleep quality (+12.8%), (iii) unhealthy diet behaviours (+10%), and (iv) unemployment (6%). Conversely, participants demonstrated a greater use (+15%) of technology during the confinement period. These findings elucidate the risk of psychosocial strain during the COVID-19 home confinement period and provide a clear remit for the urgent implementation of technology-based intervention to foster an Active and Healthy Confinement Lifestyle AHCL).

Keywords: Behaviours; Depression; Mental wellbeing; Pandemic; Public health; Satisfaction.