PHYSICAL EXERCISE, MENTAL HEALTH, QUALITY OF LIFE IN HIGHER EDUCATION– SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Abstract This systematic review aims to evaluate the relationship between physical activity (PA)/physical exercise (PE)/sport, mental health (MH) and quality of life perception (QoL) of students enrolled in higher education. The databases used for the articles selection were Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus and SPORTDiscus and descriptors were “university student”, “university student”, “higher education student”, “physical activity”, “sports”, “exercise”, “training”, “depressive mood”, “stress”, “anxiety”, and “quality of life”. Following the process provided by the PRISMA flow diagram, 37 articles were selected and, of these, 16 met the inclusion criteria for the study. In this systematic review the beneficial effects of the practice of PA/PE/sport on MH and on the QoL perception was registered. In the studies include in this systematic review anxiety, depression, and stress were lower in individuals who practiced PA/PE/sport and the greater their practice, the lower the symptoms of such comorbidities. At the same time there was also a significant correlation between PA/PE/sport and MH. On the other hand, higher levels of PA/PE/sport were also related to better QoL perception. This evidence reveals the relationship between PA/PE/sport with MH and the QoL perception of students enrolled in higher education. It is important to follow the World Health Organization (2020) recommendations for PA/PE/sport practice to further healthy lifestyles in students enrolled in higher education and to promote their MH and QoL perception.