The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Physical Therapy Undergraduates and Their Families. A Qualitative Study from the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic closed most establishments in the United Arab Emirates except health care and other essential services from 8 March 2020 until 24 June. By 22 March, most citizens were working online, including physical therapy students, and a no-movement policy restricted exercise to homes. The lockdown ended partially in August 2021 and almost complete by January 2022.

Objective: We aimed (1) to explore the physical activities of advanced undergraduate physical therapy students and their families during the lockdown, (2) to discuss how participants helped promote and maintain their own and their family's physical health, and (3) to identify what knowledge and skills gained in their physical therapy study students utilized during the lockdown.

Methods: We took a qualitative approach; a one-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted by Year 4 physical students who at the time were registered for a module covering qualitative research methods. The students interviewed other physical therapy students from year 4 and 5 who were recruited using convenience sampling from a health sciences educational institution. Interviews were conducted and recorded on the Zoom platform and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was utilised to analyse the data.

Findings: Forty-six students agreed to participate, and data saturation was achieved with interviews of 24 students. During the COVID-19 Stay Home-Stay Safe initiative, students of physical therapy were found to be physically active and to have designed home exercise programs for themselves and their families. Adherence to regular exercise was high among the students but low among family members. Three overarching themes, each with three subthemes, emerged through synthesis, coding, and categorizing.

Conclusion: Undergraduate students can effectively promote their own and their family's health. Energy imbalance and increasing neck, shoulder, and back pain among youth and lack of exercise among adults, midlife, and older, raise health concerns.

Keywords: COVID-19; family health; health promotion; pandemic; physical therapy students; public health; sedentary behaviour.