Psychophysical condition of adolescents in coronavirus disease 2019

Impact of COVID-19 Infection on Cardiorespiratory Fitness, Sleep, and Psychology of Endurance Athletes-CAESAR Study

COVID-19 has a deteriorating impact on health which is especially important for endurance athletes (EAs) who need to maintain continuity of training. The illness affects sleep and psychology, which influence sport performance. The aims of this study were: (1) to assess the consequences of mild COVID-19 on sleep and psychology and (2) to assess the consequences of mild COVID-19 on cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) results. A total of 49 EAs (males = 43, 87.76%; females = 6, 12.24%; age = 39.9 ± 7.8 years; height = 178.4 ± 6.8 cm; weight = 76.3 ± 10.4 kg; BMI = 24.0 ± 2.6 kg·m^-2) underwent a maximal cycling or running CPET pre- and post-COVID-19 and completed an original survey. Exercise performance deteriorated after COVID-19 (maximal oxygen uptake, VO_2max = 47.81 ± 7.81 vs. 44.97 ± 7.00 mL·kg·min^-1 pre- and post-infection, respectively; p < 0.001). Waking up at night affected the heart rate (HR) at the respiratory compensation point (RCP) (p = 0.028). Sleep time influenced pulmonary ventilation (p = 0.013), breathing frequency (p = 0.010), and blood lactate concentration (Lac) (p = 0.013) at the RCP. The maximal power/speed (p = 0.046) and HR (p = 0.070) were linked to the quality of sleep. Stress management and relaxation techniques were linked with VO_2max (p = 0.046), maximal power/speed (p = 0.033), and maximal Lac (p = 0.045). Cardiorespiratory fitness deteriorated after mild COVID-19 and was correlated with sleep and psychological indices. Medical professionals should encourage EAs to maintain proper mental health and sleep after COVID-19 infection to facilitate recovery.

The impacts of physical activity on psychological and behavioral problems, and changes in physical activity, sleep and quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic in preschoolers, children, and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the level of physical activity (PA). However, little is known about its effect on health outcomes.

Methods

Articles without language restrictions published from the database inception through March 16, 2022, were retrieved using the CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases. High-quality articles assessing the effect of PA on psychological and behavioral problems. Additionally, PA, QoL, and/or sleep problems before and during the pandemic were included. Articles without data regarding PA or involving non-general populations were excluded. The PRISMA and MOOSE guidelines were followed. Data quality of the selected articles was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale and GRADE approach. Data were pooled using a random-effects model and sensitivity analysis if heterogenicity was high (I 2 ≥ 50%). The relationship between PA and psychological and behavioral problems; and changes in PA, QoL, and sleeping patterns before and during the pandemic in preschoolers, children, and adolescents were investigated. A meta-analysis was conducted; odds ratios (ORs), mean differences (MD), and standardized MDs (SMDs) were calculated.

Results

Thirty-four articles involving 66,857 participants were included. The results showed an overall significant protective effect between PA and psychological and/or behavioral problems (OR = 0.677; 95% CI = 0.630, 0.728; p-value <0.001; I 2   = 59.79%). This relationship was also significant in the subgroup analysis of children (OR = 0.690; 95% CI = 0.632, 0.752; p-value <0.001; I 2   = 58.93%) and adolescents (OR = 0.650; 95% CI = 0.570, 0.741; p-value <0.001; I 2   = 60.85%); however, no data on the relationship in preschoolers were collected. In addition, the overall time spent on PA significantly decreased by 23.2 min per day during the COVID-19 pandemic (95% CI = -13.5, -32.9; p-value <0.001; I 2   = 99.82%). Moreover, the results showed an overall significant decrease in QoL (SMD = -0.894, 95% CI = -1.180, -0.609, p-value <0.001, I 2   = 96.64%). However, there was no significant difference in sleep duration during the COVID-19 pandemic (MD = 0.01 h per day, 95% CI = -0.027, 0.225; p-value = 0.125; I 2   = 98.48%).

Conclusion

During the pandemic, less PA was contributed to poor QoL and sleep quality. However, increases in PA are associated with reduced occurrences of psychological and behavioral problems. Implementing recovery plans to address the health effect of the pandemic is essential.

Prevalence of mental health symptoms in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: A meta-analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying infection control measures introduced sudden and significant disruptions to the lives of children and adolescents around the world. Given the potential for negative impacts on the mental health of youths as a result of these changes, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and sleep disturbances in children and adolescents during the pandemic. We searched major literature databases for relevant cross-sectional or longitudinal studies that included primary and secondary school students or children and adolescents ≤18 years of age. Prevalence values were extracted, logit-transformed, and pooled. Based on 191 included studies with 1,389,447 children and adolescents, we found the pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and sleep disturbances to be 31%, 31%, and 42%, respectively. Age, grade levels, education levels, gender, geographical regions, and electronics use were correlated with the prevalence of mental health symptoms. The prevalence of mental health symptoms also increased with time, although signs of recovery and stabilization were also observed. Overall, the results from this review demonstrate the need for increased mental health research, monitoring, and intervention for children and adolescents during the current and future pandemics.

Daily Life Patterns, Psychophysical Conditions, and Immunity of Adolescents in the COVID-19 Era: A Mixed Research with Qualitative Interviews by a Quasi-Experimental Retrospective Study

Background: This study investigated the daily lifestyle changes, prevalence of psychological depression, physical health status, and immunity of adolescents in Korea resulting from increased isolation and social restriction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: All subjects included 17-year-old male adolescents. A total of 117 subjects were assigned to one of four groups according to the degree of depression based on item #6 in the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) questionnaire as follows: no-depression group (NDG, n = 71; 61.0%), low-depression group (LDG, n = 23; 19.0%), moderate-depression group (MDG, n = 15; 13.0%), and high-depression group (HDG, n = 8; 7.0%). This study analyzed the data using quantitative and qualitative methods to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affects adolescents’ daily lives, psychophysiological conditions, and immune function. Results: This study found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affects the daily lifestyle pattern, psychophysical condition, and immunocytes of adolescents. In terms of depression, 39.0% of adolescents felt depressed, and 7% of them felt depressed almost every day. Overall, HDG considered themselves unhealthy and felt prone to immune diseases, such as colds. HDG were prone to sleep late, eat more frequently, and work out less. Regarding physical fitness factors, the cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, and power of HDG were significantly lower than those of NDG, LDG, and MDG. Moreover, HDG had the worst body composition, including the lowest muscle mass. Finally, natural killer (NK) cells and T cells were significantly different among groups, with the levels in HDG being significantly lower than those of the other three groups. Conclusions: Since the COVID-19 pandemic negatively affects the daily lives, psychophysical conditions, and immunocytes of adolescents, there is an urgent need to create and provide solutions to adolescents with depression though the number of subjects is few.