Examination of physical activity and subjective well-being before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic amongst the Hungarian sportsmen and professionals in the sports sector

Abstract

Background The aim of the research was to analyze the changing exercising frequency, the well-being, the mental health, and the social relationships before and during the curfew of the COVID-19 first wave. Material and methods The data collection was May-June in 2020 via an online questionnaire survey amongst the sportsmen and professionals in the sports sector. The descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used with the SPSS 27.0 software (Chi-square test, Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests). Results The respondents were 44.17% female and 55.83% male. The average age was 36.36±16.52 years. The sample was classified into four sectors: elite sportsmen (20.60%), recreational sportsmen (34.29%), sports professionals (28.21%) and multiple roles (16.90%). There was a significant difference at the exercising frequency before and during the curfew between the sectors (p<0.001). The wellbeing, the mental health and the social relations did not show any significant differences. Regarding physical activity, there were decreases in every category: -268.36 minutes weekly average in the elite sportsmen, -194.90 minutes weekly average in the recreational sportsmen and -250.33 minutes weekly average in the multiple roles’ category (p<0.001). Conclusions The curfew of the COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on the exercising frequency and physical activity amongst the sportsmen and professionals in the sports sector.