EL PASO, Texas – A study by psychology researchers at the University of Texas at El Paso found that ordering a home stay in El Paso due to COVID-19 epidemic has a positive impact on the health and well-being of area residents.
Despite the closure of gyms and movement restrictions on non-essential activities, residents increased their fitness activity and kept a close eye on the availability of food and nutrition, said Cory M. Smith, Ph.D., senior. assistant professor of epidemiology at the UTEP College of Health Sciences and principal investigator of the study.
More than 1,300 El Paso and Las Cruces, New Mexico, residents participated in the Smith COVID-19 Survival Study during the month of September 2020. Questions focused on their personal changes in physical activity, nutritional habits, and changes in attitudes and attitudes toward common hygiene. emergency routines and preparations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Safe Work Order, El Paso County Home Stay which came into effect on March 24, 2020.
According to the data, 37% of participants said they improved their exercise habits by changing their exercise focus, getting more exercise and trying new fitness activities, while 15% said they increased their exercise routine. -outdoors. Forty-five percent of residents responded that they increased self-examination of their food intake.
“We suggested that people were going to exercise less during the pandemic after the closure of gyms and fitness facilities,” said Smith, director of UTEP ‘s Laboratory of Human and Environmental Psychology (HEPL). . “But when we started evaluating the data, we discovered some of the hidden health benefits of pandemic. People were exercising more and eating better. We hope this data will lead to a better understanding. better on how people respond to public health emergencies and how we can better prepare for future public health emergencies. “
Smith attributed the positive health results of the study to increased human awareness of the risk factors associated with COVID-19, an infectious respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Prior to El Paso enforcing the stay-at-home order, 39% of participants reported a high level of concern about contracting COVID-19 compared to 50% of individuals who report low level of anxiety for coronavirus infection. Eleven percent said they were not worried.
After the order went into effect, the number of respondents who had a high level of concern for contracting with COVID-19 increased to 57%. Individuals who reported a low level of concern about the virus fell to 39%, while 4% of participants reported no concern.
The study found that residents who felt unwell were more likely to stay at home and not go to work, school, or social events after the stay-at-home order. In addition, the implementation of the Stay at Home Ordinance increased the frequency of hand washing and sanitation in 92% of individuals.
Data on changes in employment, nutritional habits and physical activity are also included in the study.
Smith planned to share the results with El Paso City. He said data could be used to develop community protocols to better implement public safety guidelines in the event of a pandemic in the future.
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The University of Texas at El Paso is one of the largest and most successful Hispanic institutions in the country, with an 83% Hispanic student body. It enrols nearly 25,000 students in 166 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in 10 colleges and schools. With more than $ 100 million in total annual research spending, UTEP is ranked in the top 5% of research centers nationally and ranked fifth in Texas for federal research spending at public universities.
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