Mental and physical health in general population during COVID-19: Systematic review and narrative synthesis

Wang, F. F.; Boros, S.

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 changed the normality of daily life. Due to mobility restriction measures, physical and mental health in general population became a remarkable concern for researchers and health professionals. Material and methods: This article briefly reviews the evidence of mental and physical health consequences during COVID-19 pandemic. The review was conducted in October 2020 through PubMed and Web of Science with the searching frame: Mental health and Physical health and COVID-19. The study selection process followed the PRISMA flow diagram. Results: The reported mental consequences were mainly negative psychological effects including stress symptoms, anxiety, and depression. The total physical activity in MET- minutes/week demonstrated a statistically significant reduction between before and during COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, males showed higher significant variation of Delta-MET compared with females (p < 0.001). Also, the reduction of total physical activity was related to worse psychological well-being (r = 0.07541, p < 0.001). Conclusions: In the general population, both mental and physical health consequences call for academic concern, and investigation from different social layers of population needs to be justified. Discovery of mental and physical promotion interventions to outline the psychological, social, and physiological aspects of the pandemic are required.