To our knowledge, none have explored the possible association between prior parameters of physical fitness and pandemic-related depression.įrom the existing evidence, it may be hypothesized that physical fitness factors are inversely correlated with depression during COVID-19. However, these studies are largely limited to current physical activity and mental health. Furthermore, recent studies have alluded to an association between current physical activity and mental health during the pandemic ( Lopez-Bueno et al., 2020 Stanton et al., 2020), with a commonality that decreased physical activity appears with lockdowns.

Studies have been published on COVID-19 and previous outbreaks and their adverse effects on mental health ( Brooks et al., 2020 Torales et al., 2020). Physical fitness, particularly cardiorespiratory fitness, and exercise training have repeatedly been shown to be negatively associated with future CVD and diabetes risk ( Dun et al., 2019a, 2019b Myers et al., 2015 Pedersen et al., 2019) as well as having a positive relationship with mental health in multiple populations ( Baumeister et al., 2017 Cho et al., 2019 Kerling et al., 2015). Hence, evidence-based research is needed to address the rise in depression across multiple populations as a result of COVID-19. There’s concern that such a surge may lead to an increased rate of suicides ( Reger, Stanley & Joiner, 2020) domestic abuse, economic, and somatic health issues ( Moulton, Pickup & Ismail, 2015). COVID-19 has led to a spike in deleterious mental health issues ( Wang et al., 2020), particularly in depression ( Brooks et al., 2020). Since its onset, coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) has personified overwhelming stresses, stemming from-infections, loss of work, loss of freedoms, isolation, and death, leaving behind an aura of uncertainty amongst the world’s citizens. These findings suggest that prior physical fitness may be inversely associated with depression in young adults during a pandemic. In binary logistic regression, the combined participants with moderate, high or excellent fitness also showed a much lower risk compared to those least fit in anaerobic (odd ratio (OR) 95% CI 0.68 ), aerobic (0.80 ), explosive (0.72 ), and muscular (0.66 ) fitness. These remained consistent after sex- and baseline stress-stratification. After multivariable adjustment, anaerobic (mean change 95% CI −3.3 ) aerobic (−1.5 ), explosive (−1.64 ) and muscular (−1.7 ) fitness were independently and inversely associated with depression for the overall population. Of the study population 13.9% of men and 15.0% of women sampled qualified for a diagnosis of depression. Sex- and baseline stress-stratified analyses were performed.

Independent associations between prior physical fitness and depression during the pandemic were assessed using multivariable linear and binary logistic regressions accordingly, covariates including age, dwelling location, economic level, smoking, alcohol, living status, weight change, and exercise volume during the pandemic. This study enrolled 12,889 (80% female) young adults (mean age 20 ± 1) who performed a National Student Physical Fitness battery from December 1st, 2019, to January 20th, 2020, and completed a questionnaire including Beck’s Depression Inventory in May 2020. This dual-center retrospective cross-sectional study assessed the prevalence of depression in young adults during this pandemic and explored its association with various physical fitness measures. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a spike in deleterious mental health.

The association between prior physical fitness and depression in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic-a cross-sectional, retrospective study. Cite this article Dun Y, Ripley-Gonzalez JW, Zhou N, Li Q, Chen M, Hu Z, Zhang W, Thomas RJ, Olson TP, Liu J, Dong Y, Liu S. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. Licence This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. 5 Medical College of Jinhua Polytechnic, Jinhua, Zhejiang, China DOI 10.7717/peerj.11091 Published Accepted Received Academic Editor Antonio Palazón-Bru Subject Areas Global Health, Infectious Diseases, Psychiatry and Psychology, Public Health Keywords Physical fitness, Exercise, COVID-19, Depression, Mental health Copyright © 2021 Dun et al.

Retrospective cross sectional study