J Korean Med Sci.  2022 Apr;37(15):e118. 10.3346/jkms.2022.37.e118.

Perceived Physical and Mental Health and Healthy Eating Habits During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Chronic Disease and Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
  • 2Qatar Rehabilitation Institute, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar
  • 3Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics, Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
  • 4Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, University Hospital Hassan II of Fez, Fez, Morocco
  • 5University Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah, Fes, Morocco
  • 6Amputee Rehabilitation Department, National Institute of Rehabilitation, Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 7Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi, Tétouan, Morocco
  • 8Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL), US Department of Veteran Affairs, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
  • 9Department of Disaster Health Sciences, Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction, Sichuan University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Chengdu, China
  • 10Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Michigan Medicine Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
  • 11International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 12Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 13G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre, Vancouver, Canada
  • 14Multidisciplinary Department of Medicine for Surgery and Orthodontics, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy
  • 15Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital & Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), New Delhi, India
  • 16Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Background
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted the lives of people around the world since 2020. This study aims to reveal perceived impact of the coronavirus pandemic on physical and mental health and eating behaviors among people with disabilities and without disabilities in South Korea, as compared to other countries.
Methods
A secondary analysis of a prospective cross-sectional study which was conducted with a web-based global survey.
Results
Among the 3,550 responses from 65 countries, 2,621 responses with nation information were set as full data, 189 for South Korea and 2,432 for other countries. In Korea, there was no significant difference in healthy lifestyle behaviors between people with and without disabilities before the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived physical and mental health and changes in eating habits during the COVID-19 pandemic showed no significant difference between people with and without disabilities in Korea. There were significant differences in physical health and dietary habits, but no differences in its effect on mental health between people living in Korea and other countries in both people with and without disabilities groups. In other words, more than 60% of people in all groups (disability vs. non-disability, Korea vs. non-Korea) reported worse mental health than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusion
In Korea and other countries, mental health showed a tendency to deteriorate regardless of the presence or absence of disability during the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of healthy eating habits, Koreans were relatively less affected than people from other countries.

Keyword

COVID-19; People with Disabilities; Healthy Lifestyles; Lack of Physical Activity; Mental Health

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