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. 2023 Jul;51(5):648-655.
doi: 10.1177/14034948231176708. Epub 2023 Jun 2.

Effects of the COVID-19-induced lockdown period on general well-being, perceived stress and activity levels in the Faroe Islands

Vár Honnudóttir  1   2 , Anna Sofía Veyhe  2 , Monika Mohr  1 , Marin Strøm  2 , Magni Mohr  1   2   3
Affiliations

Effects of the COVID-19-induced lockdown period on general well-being, perceived stress and activity levels in the Faroe Islands

Vár Honnudóttir et al. Scand J Public Health. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

Aims: Detrimental effects on health and well-being were reported during the COVID-19-induced lockdown periods in several countries, but these associations have not been studied in small-scale island societies. This study aimed to examine the lockdown period's impact on general well-being, perceived stress and activity levels in the Faroe Islands.

Methods: We used cross-sectional data from two extensive population-based surveys of the general health conducted in November 2019 (the pre-COVID survey; n=2906), and four to six weeks into the first national lockdown (the lockdown survey; n=1204).

Results: A larger proportion of participants in the lockdown survey versus pre-COVID survey displayed excellent/very good self-rated health (68.1% vs. 62.0%; p<0.001), and the same pattern was observed for reporting good quality of life (85.7% vs. 82.7%; p<0.05). These associations remained statistically significant in a logistic regression model after adjusting for characteristics for which varying impact of the pandemic has been shown. Indicators of health behaviour showed that larger proportions of participants kept active during the lockdown survey versus pre-COVID survey, and these differences were statistically significant for physical, mental and spiritual activities (p<0.001). On the other hand, similar stress levels in the pre-COVID/lockdown periods were observed, but stratified analysis showed that participants with a high-stress level displayed better self-rated health in the lockdown period compared to the pre-COVID period (p=0.001).

Conclusions: Findings indicate that self-reported health and quality of life improved during the early phase of the COVID lockdown, and individuals reported higher activity levels associated with good mental health during the COVID-19-induced lockdown period.

Keywords: Act-Belong-Commit; Self-reported health; mental health; perceived stress and well-being; quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Self-rated health in the pre-COVID survey and the lockdown survey stratified by stress level. * Significant association between self-rated health and survey on a p<0.05 level with a chi-squared test. ** Significant association between self-rated health and survey on a p<0.001 level with a chi-squared test.
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