Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perceived Physical and Mental Health and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors of People With Disabilities

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to determine the perceived impact of the coronavirus pandemic on physical and mental health and healthy lifestyle behaviors in community-dwelling persons with disabilities, as compared with those without disabilities. Design: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted with a web-based global survey. Results: Over 3 mos, 3550 responses were collected from 65 countries. The study included 2689 responses without skipped questions as full data for analysis. Most respondents were women (82.82%), and approximately half (52.81%) were between the ages of 25 and 39 yrs, followed by those between the ages of 40 and 60 yrs (38.6%). Among the participants, 52% indicated physical activity levels decreased and 20% reported eating less fruit and vegetables than before. Furthermore, 45% noted that they slept less than before. Perceived physical and mental health and changes to eating habits during the pandemic showed a significant difference in people with and without disabilities. Furthermore, perceived effects on physical health had a significant effect on the reported degree of disability. Conclusions: This study indicates that the pandemic had a larger impact on perceived physical and mental health and changes in eating habits and tobacco use among people with disabilities than people without disabilities.