COVID-19 AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY LEVELS AMONG PHARMACY STUDENTS: THE IMPACT OF VIDEO GAMING

Video games can be symbolized as an escapism from the anxiety and pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic where social distancing is inevitable. Their growing popularity over the past decade has built the questions on how they might affect the physical health of the population. Our study aimed to determine the physical activity level with the frequency of exposure to video gaming among the pharmacy students during the pandemic. The cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey consisting of a set of validated questionnaires modified from published literatures and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (iPAQ) among the students at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA. The survey was distributed to the students via e-mail and social network from April until June 2020 amid the Movement Control Order. A total of 314 sample were collected and majority of the respondents were females (55.1%) and Malay (96.5%). Our results showed that most students spent an average of 1 to 3 days per week playing video games (48.1%), with the frequency of playing for up to 3 hours (70.9%). Unsurprisingly, very few admitted to having frequently performed rigorous (2.9%) or moderate activities (7.1%). Although approximately one-third of respondents (36.6%) spent an average of more than 8 hours per week sitting or lying down, half of them (51.3%) reported that they had never experienced any pain after playing video games. Our findings highlight that video gaming did not cause significant harm to the students despite the low level of physical activity among the pharmacy students.