Physical Activity Levels and Mental Health Burden of Healthcare Workers during
COVID-19 Lockdown
Zaylea Kua1, Fadzil Hamzah2, Pei Ting Tan3, Li Jiuen Ong4, Benedict Tan2, Zhongwei
Huang5,6,7*
1
Department of Psychological Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Singapore
2
Department of Sport & Exercise Medicine, Changi General Hospital, Singapore
3
Clinical Trials & Research Unit, Changi General Hospital, Singapore
4
Department of Dietetics, Changi General Hospital, Singapore
5
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, National University Health Systems, Singapore
6
Department of Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of
Singapore
7
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Agency of Science, Technology and Research,
Singapore
*Corresponding author:
Dr. Zhongwei Huang; Associate Consultant & Research Clinician
Departments of Physiology, Obstetrics & Gynaecology
National University Health System
Tower Block Level 12
1E Kent Ridge Road
Singapore 119228
obgzwh@nus.edu.sg
Acknowledgement: None.
Declaration of Competing Interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author,
[Z.H.], upon reasonable request.
Abstract
The outbreak of COVID-19 has precipitated international lockdown measures to curb
disease transmissions. The closure of public activity spaces as well as changes in pandemic
workload may disrupt healthcare workers’ physical activity levels and self-care routines. We
sought to examine the association between physical activity levels and mental health burden of
healthcare workers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Singapore. This cross-sectional survey
was administered digitally to 707 healthcare workers between May 17 and June 18 2020.
Exercise frequency, duration and intensity of these healthcare workers had reduced
significantly during the lockdown compared to pre-lockdown. 42.7%, 37.2%, and 11.9%
screened positive for moderate-to-extremely-severe depression, anxiety and stress respectively.
Reductions in exercise duration was a significant risk factor for mild stress and moderate-tosevere depression while increase in exercise frequency was found to be a protective factor
against depressed mood. Our study revealed that a short-term reduction in physical activity
levels during lockdown was associated with poorer psychological outcomes. Given the
protection that exercise confers on depression, physical activity should be promoted at the
workplace and at home to support healthcare workers to cope through this protracted health
crisis.