Association of Web-Based Physical Education With Mental Health of College Students in Wuhan During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

Background Outbreak of COVID-19 has affected the global health. For college students, online physical education was a challenge as an outdoor course. Objective The study used data from an online survey to evaluate the relationship of mental health status and sports-related lifestyle, and the problems of online physical education has been stated as well. Methods An online survey was conducted by snowball sampling from May 8th to May 11th. Demographic data, mental health status, sports-related lifestyle of college students in Wuhan and the issues of online physical education were collected. Mental health status was assessed by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Results The study included 1607 respondents from 267 cities. The average scores of DASS-21 subscales were significantly lower in our study (for depression, 2.46; for anxiety, 1.48; for stress, 2.59) than previous study (P Conclusions The mental status was significantly correlated with regular exercise and sufficient exercise duration. Professional physical guidance was in need for college students in selected sports. Exercises not meeting students' preferences, frequent technical problems, and distant interaction of online physical education were the main problems that should be solved in future.