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The Impact of Exercise on the Mental Health and Quality...
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The Impact of Exercise on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of People—the Second Edition

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2023) | Viewed by 5177

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Jennifer R. Pharr

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Las Vegas School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89119, USA
Interests: disparities in health outcomes and healthcare access/health service utilization of vulnerable populations, particularly sexual and gender minorities; disease disparities including HIV, mental health, and chronic diseases; barriers that impede and facilitators that enhance healthy behaviors such as HIV testing, preventive care, and disease prevention; the use of social marketing to promote health; the intersection of sport, physical activity, and health; and using sport to advance health, especially among women
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Kavita Batra

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89102, USA
Interests: oral health; data analytics; evidence-synthesis; COVID-19; healthcare disparities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Participation in physical activity, exercise, and sports has been found to improve people’s health and wellbeing in comparison to people who do not participate in these activities. Physical inactivity is a risk factor for chronic conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some cancers. Additionally, there is a positive association between physical activity or exercise and improved mental health outcomes. Physical activity/exercise has been found to reduce psychological distress (including depression, stress, and anxiety) and poor mental health outcomes, while improving people’s sense of well-being and quality of life. While the positive effects of physical activity have been studied in the general population, less is known about the impact of physical activity, exercise, and sports on mental health and quality of life in subsets of the population. A paucity of research has explored the relationships between physical activity/exercise and mental health outcomes among specific populations, such as people with chronic diseases (e.g., cardiovascular disease, cancer, and asthma), minority populations (e.g., racial or ethnic, sexual, and gender minorities), and people with disabilities.

This Special Issue aims to highlight innovative studies (original investigations and review articles) that explore the relationships between physical activity, exercise, and sports, as well as mindfulness interventions, on the mental health and quality of life of specific populations. Studies may include the impact of the frequency, duration, or intensity of physical activity on outcomes such as depression, psychological distress, quality of life, or wellbeing. Additionally, we welcome studies on specific types of activity (e.g., yoga, hiking, and swimming), exercise (e.g., cardiovascular exercise and muscle strengthening), or sport (e.g., team sport and individual sport) and their relationships with mental health and wellbeing. We will also consider studies assessing the determinants of physical activity based on theoretical frameworks, which could inform targeted interventions.

Dr. Jennifer R. Pharr
Dr. Kavita Batra
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1241 KiB  
Article
The Relationship between Physical Activity and Health-Related Quality of Life in Korean Adults: The Eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
by Mun-Gyu Jun and Se-Hyeon Han
Healthcare 2023, 11(21), 2861; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11212861 - 30 Oct 2023
Viewed by 806
Abstract
This study used the raw data from the Eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES-VIII), conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019. It was conducted to [...] Read more.
This study used the raw data from the Eighth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES-VIII), conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2019. It was conducted to identify a significant correlation between physical activity (PA) and health-related quality of life (HR QOL) in the Korean population. In 2019, the KNHANES-VIII added the Health-related Quality of Life Instrument with 8 items (HINT-8) to assess the HR QOL. The independent variable is related to PA, specifically the presence or absence of PA, type of PA, and the frequency of PA. The dependent variable is HR QOL, measured either as the total score or specific items (e.g., pain, vitality, and memory) using the HINT-8 measurement tool. Demographic characteristics and health status may directly or indirectly influence the relationship between PA and HR QOL, which were used as covariates. A total of 4357 participants were included in the current study. The mean HINT-8 scores were significantly higher in the participants who performed PA on a weekly basis, leisure-related PA or MSPA, as compared with those who did not (p = 0.01 and <0.0001, respectively). In both the unadjusted and adjusted models, the mean HINT-8 scores were significantly higher in the participants who performed ≥500 MET-min/week of leisure-related PA as compared with those who did not (95% CI: 1.017–1.033; p < 0.001 and 95% CI: 1.005–1.02; p = 0.001, respectively). In both the unadjusted and adjusted models, the mean HINT-8 scores were significantly higher (95% CI: 1.015–1.03; p < 0.001 and 95% CI: 1.004–1.018; p = 0.003, respectively) in the participants who performed MSPA for ≥2 days/week as compared with those who did not. The current results confirmed that there is a significant positive correlation between the PA and HR QOL based on the HINT-8 scores. Because the HINT-8 was developed to assess the HR QOL in Koreans, however, further studies are warranted to evaluate its applicability to other ethnic populations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Exercise on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of People—the Second Edition)
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12 pages, 316 KiB  
Article
Association between GHQ-12, Duke-UNC-11, Physical Activity, and Self-Perceived Health in Spanish Adults with Cancerous Tumours: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Juan Manuel Franco-García, Ángel Denche-Zamorano, Damián Pereira-Payo, Yeray Rodríguez-Redondo, Jorge Carlos-Vivas, Antonio Castillo-Paredes, Miguel Ángel García-Gordillo and Laura Muñoz-Bermejo
Healthcare 2023, 11(2), 192; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11020192 - 09 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1354
Abstract
Background: In Spain, people who have overcome some type of cancer have significantly worse self-perceived health (SPH) and higher rates of depression than people who have never suffered any type of cancer. Objective: to explore the relationships among physical activity levels (PAL), perceived [...] Read more.
Background: In Spain, people who have overcome some type of cancer have significantly worse self-perceived health (SPH) and higher rates of depression than people who have never suffered any type of cancer. Objective: to explore the relationships among physical activity levels (PAL), perceived social support (PSS), and SPH in terms of mental health and its dimensions in Spanish adults with cancerous tumours. Methods: A correlational study rooted in the National Health Survey 2017 for adults was carried out, including 627 Spanish residents who reported having malignant tumours. Results: A dependent association was found between PAL and SPH (p < 0.001). The mental health mean score decreased as PAL increased for the total sample and for both sexes, separately (p < 0.001). Low reverse associations were also observed between PAL and mental health (rho: −0.274; p < 0.001), successful coping (rho: −0.239; p < 0.001) and self-confidence (rho: −0.264; p <0.001). Moreover, PSS weakly and inversely correlates with mental health (r: −0.225; p < 0.001), successful coping (r: −0.218; p < 0.001) and self-confidence (r: −0.231; p < 0.001). A binary logistic model showed that active and very active people presented less threat of poor SPH, as did people with higher PSS (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Greater levels of physical activity are associated with larger mean scores in the three dimensions of mental health, perceived social support and self-perceived health in people with cancerous tumours. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Exercise on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of People—the Second Edition)
16 pages, 912 KiB  
Article
Research on the Impact of Regular Exercise Behavior of College Students on Academic Stress and Sleep Quality during the COVID-19 Pandemic
by Ming-Zhu Yuan, Chao-Chien Chen, I-Shen Chen, Cheng-Chia Yang and Chin-Hsien Hsu
Healthcare 2022, 10(12), 2534; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10122534 - 14 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2436
Abstract
When college students face the COVID-19 pandemic and new learning challenges simultaneously, how to reduce or alleviate their own academic stress has become a topic of concern to students and their parents. The psychological and physiological benefits of regular exercise have been confirmed [...] Read more.
When college students face the COVID-19 pandemic and new learning challenges simultaneously, how to reduce or alleviate their own academic stress has become a topic of concern to students and their parents. The psychological and physiological benefits of regular exercise have been confirmed by related studies. This study aimed to explore the impact of college students’ regular exercise behavior on academic stress and sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study used a purposive sampling method to collect data through online questionnaires posted to relevant college student groups in northern, central, southern, and eastern Taiwan and the outlying islands. A total of 320 questionnaires were collected, with a response rate of 91.4%; based on 304 valid questionnaires. The validity rate was 95%. The obtained data were entered in SPSS 24.0 statistical software, and the correlation between variables was analyzed with AMOS 24.0 statistical software. The results show that hypothesis 1 is established, that is, regular exercise behavior of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant negative impact on academic stress, meaning that during the COVID-19 pandemic, if college students can use their spare time to make exercise part of their life, such a regular schedule will help reduce their academic stress. In addition, the empirical results show that hypothesis 2 is established, that is, regular exercise behavior of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant positive impact on sleep quality. A possible reason is that under the COVID-19 pandemic, the efficiency of the body to absorb oxygen is increased through regular exercise, which reduces pressure and improves sleep quality. Hypothesis 3 is also confirmed, that is, the academic stress of college students during the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant negative impact on sleep quality. The reason may be that many leisure and social activities have been suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, and thus college students exercised and studied during the time they originally intended for leisure and social activities, which reduced their academic stress, stabilized their mood, and improved their sleep quality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Impact of Exercise on the Mental Health and Quality of Life of People—the Second Edition)
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