Impacto da adesão à prática de atividade física e práticas integrativas e complementares em uma comunidade universitária durante a pandemia de COVID-19: um estudo transversal

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many lifestyles adapted to the new reality. The practice of physical activity and Integrative and Complementary Practices (PICs) have changed and it is believed that they may have interfered in various aspects of the population. The aim of this research is to assess the impact of Physical Activity and PICs on quality of life at work scores, hours of sleep, anxiety, depression, spirituality and pain in a university population during the SARS-COV- 2 pandemic period in December 2021 to December 2022. After approval by the Ethics and Research Committee, a total of 534 participants composed the sample of this study, based on the sample calculation carried out based on the comparison of the variables of Physical Activity and Integrative Practices with Quality of Life. Life. Participants completed an online questionnaire covering sociodemographic variables, Quality of Work Life Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Spirituality Scale and Body Pain Diagram. Statistical analyzes of the data were performed using the SPSS 20.0 program. As a qualitative variable, they answered a self-reported open question about diseases developed during the Pandemic exposed in a word cloud using the Pro Word Cloud. When comparing the practice of physical activity before and during the study, a significant reduction in the frequency of physical activity was observed in the total sample. When comparing participants who practiced physical activity during the pandemic to those who did not, with regard to quality of life, physical activity had a significant positive impact on the physical/health, professional and global domains. It was found that the group that did not practice physical activity had significantly less hours of sleep. Regarding anxiety and depression, physical activity proved to be effective in reducing both symptoms. There was no significant difference when evaluating spirituality between practitioners and non- practitioners of physical activity. There was a significant reduction in pain in the lower back and ankles related to the practice of physical activity. As a result, when comparing whether there was adherence to the PICS during this period, the PICS obtained significant adherence, with Meditation, Yoga and Aromatherapy being the most cited practices during this period. For the qualitative analysis, the most cited words are anxiety and depression. When comparing participants who practiced PICS during the pandemic with those who did not, a significant quality of life relationship was obtained in the personal, professional and global domains. However, no statistical difference was observed for the variables anxiety, depression, spirituality and pain for those who adhered to the PICS. It can be concluded that there were marked differences in the variables analyzed regarding adherence to physical activity with improvements in quality of life, hours of sleep, anxiety, depression and pain reduction. Regarding the PICS, these were effective in improving the quality of life.