The influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, lifestyle and nutritional habits of the working population from central and northwestern Croatia

U prosincu 2019. akutna respiratorna bolest uzrokovana novim virusom SARS-CoV-2 tzv. bolest COVID-19 ili koronavirusna bolest pojavila se u gradu Wuhanu te se počela širiti cijelim svijetom. Svjetska zdravstvena organizacija je 11. ožujka 2020. proglasila globalnu pandemiju bolesti COVID-19. Cilj ovog rada bio je ispitati utjecaj pandemije COVID-19 na mentalno zdravlje te životne i prehrambene navike radno aktivnog stanovništva središnje i sjeverozapadne Hrvatske. Ispitivanje se provodilo anonimnim anketnim upitnikom. U istraživanje je ukupno bilo uključeno 629 ispitanika, prosječne dobi od 41,8±9,4 godina. Među ispitanicima bilo je 35,3 % muškaraca i 64,7 % žena. I kod muškaraca i žena u ovom istraživanju primijećen je značajan udio ispitanika koji su se izjasnili da su pušili manje (žene 3,9 %; muškarci 3,2 %) za vrijeme pandemije COVID-19. Žene su pušile povećani broj cigareta i povećale konzumaciju alkohola za vrijeme pandemije COVID-19 u odnosu na vrijeme prije pandemije COVID-19, a također je značajan udio žena imao lošiju kvalitetu spavanja i probleme prilikom usnivanja. Istraživanje je pokazalo kako je 31,8 % ispitanika povećalo tjelesnu masu, a kod 7,3 % ispitanika zabilježen je gubitak tjelesne mase tijekom pandemije COVID-19. Žene su tijekom pandemije bile sklonije konzumirati više hrane i grickalica od muškaraca.In December 2019, an acute respiratory disease caused by a new virus SARS-CoV-2, so-called COVID-19 disease or coronavirus disease, appeared in the city of Wuhan, and began to spread throughout the world. On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and living and eating habits of the working population of central and northwestern Croatia. The survey was conducted with an anonymous survey questionnaire. A total of 629 subjects were included in the study, with an average age of 41.8 ± 9.4 years. Among the respondents, 35.3 % were men and 64.7 % were women. Both men and women in this study observed a significant proportion of respondents who reported smoking less (women 3.9 %; men 3.2 %) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women smoked an increased number of cigarettes and increased alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the time before the COVID-19 pandemic, and a significant proportion of women also had poorer sleep quality and sleep problems. The study showed that 31.8 % of subjects gained weight, and 7.3 % of subjects reported weight loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Women during the pandemic were more likely to consume more food and snacks than men