Physical Activity and Mental Health of Medical Students from Poland and Belarus-Countries with Different Restrictive Approaches during the COVID-19 Pandemic

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 pandemic has struck all of us suddenly and unexpectedly; it deprived the society of a sense of control over their lives on different levels. In a short period of time, it led to a number of changes in everyday life of people all over the world. In particular, these changes affected medical staff, who, all of a sudden, were burdened with new work-related responsibilities and duties. This situation may have had a detrimental effect on their mental health. Due to the unpredictability of the COVID-19 pandemic, we attempted to assess its consequences in terms of mental health and physical fitness of university students from countries in which different approaches to these issues were adopted. METHODS: A total of 779 medical students (374 students from John Paul II University of Applied Sciences (ABNS) in Biala Podlaska, Poland, and 405 students from Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno (YKSUG), Belarus) took part in the survey. Three standardised psychometric tools were used in the study: The Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and Stress Coping Inventory (Mini-COPE). In addition, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was applied. RESULTS: The vast majority of students both from Poland and Belarus demonstrated high levels of physical activity. However, students from ABNS manifested significantly higher levels of physical activity compared to their counterparts from YKSUG. Students from Biala Podlaska had greater satisfaction with life during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas their peers from Grodno exhibited higher levels of mental distress. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a significant exacerbation of mental health issues among medical students. In order to alleviate negative effects of the pandemic, it seems necessary for universities to monitor the physical and mental health state of students and to implement prevention programmes.