Physical activity and mental health in individuals with multimorbidity during COVID-19: an explanatory sequential mixed-method study

Abstract

Objective: To understand the physical activity and mental health of individuals living with long-term conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design: A sequential explanatory mixed-methods study with two phases: phase 1: quantitative survey and phase 2: qualitative follow-up interviews.

Setting: For the quantitative phase, an online survey was launched in March 2021, using Microsoft Forms. For the qualitative phase, in-depth semistructured interviews were conducted via online.

Participants: 368 adults over 18 years old living in the UK with at least one long-term condition completed the survey. Interviews were conducted in a subsample of participants from the previous quantitative phase, with 26 people. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Responses from the survey showed that people with one long-term condition were significantly more physically active and spent less time sitting, than those with two or more conditions, presenting with significantly higher well-being (p<0.0001), and lower levels of anxiety (p<0.01), and depression (p<0.0001). Interviews found that people developed a range of strategies to cope with the impact of changeability and the consequences of their long-term condition on their physical activity.

Conclusions: The number of long-term conditions influenced physical activity and how people coped with their condition during COVID-19. Findings will inform policy developments in preparation for future pandemics to support and remain people to remain physically active and mental health.

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This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

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DOI

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-079852

Repository URI

https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/publications/bd6a42f3-79d3-4534-8c99-24d24053d077