Presenter: Nate Kirk
Authors: Nate Kirk, Rebecca Saunders-Jackson, Reed Muir, Marcus Lawrence, Merrill Funk
Faculty Advisor: Merrill Funk
Institution: Southern Utah University
The NCAA has recently shown that as the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, athletes’ perceptions of mental and physical health are getting worse. However, it is currently unknown how physical activity levels play a role in an athlete’s perceived change in mental or physical health. PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between physical activity levels and perceived changes in mental or physical health from one year ago until approximately eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic in Division I collegiate athletes. METHODS:Participants (n=36 male, n=58 female) were current collegiate athletes at a Division I university in the U.S.A. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire – Short Form (IPAQ-SF) was used to assess participants’ amount of weekly overall physical activity. Further, the Veterans RAND 12-item Health Survey (VR-12) was used to determine how participants perceived a change in their physical and mental health compared to one year ago. RESULTS:Participants perceived a change in their physical health as follows: 17% felt worse, 43% felt about the same, and 55% felt better. Participants perceived a change in their mental health as follows: 26% felt worse, 37% felt about the same, and 37% felt better. The overall amount of physical activity in the participants was 10,457±7,463 MET*minutes. There was no significant relationship (p>0.05) between perceived change in physical health (r = 0.055) or mental health (r = 0.083) from one year ago until now and overall amount of physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Despite many athletes still perceiving their physical or mental health negatively compared to one year ago, the current level of physical activity had no influence on these perceptions, when measured approximately 18 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Further work is needed to tease out the exact causes or predictors for differences observed in perceived changes in mental or physical health with the ongoing pandemic.