Health, Distress and Life Satisfaction of People in China One Month into the COVID-19 Outbreak

Background: What are the health and wellbeing of people in China during the COVID-19 outbreak? We aim to assess the health and wellbeing of normal adults living and working after one month of confinement to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Methods: One month into the COVID-19 public emergency, on Feb 20–21, 2020, we surveyed 369 adults in 64 cities in China that varied in their rates of confirmed coronavirus cases on the eight dimensions of health (SF12), distress (K6) and life satisfaction. The participants also reported their work status, whether they had chronic health issues, and the number of hours they exercised per day in the past week. Findings: In general, people’s lives have been severely disrupted. One third (33%) of the participants had not left their home at all during the previous one month due to the restrictive measures to contain COVID-19 in China. Of the sample, 27% of the participants worked at the office, 38% resorted to working from home, and 25% stopped working due to the outbreak. Those who stopped working reported worse health conditions by SF12 as well as distress (K6). The severity of COVID-19 in an individual’s home city predicts their life satisfaction, and this relationship is moderated by individuals’ existing chronic health issues and their hours of exercise. Interpretation: Our findings support the need to pay attention to the health of people who were not affected by the virus epidemiologically. We especially need to support people who stopped working during the outbreak. Our results also highlight that physically active people, as indicated by more hours of exercise, might be more susceptible to wellbeing issues due to the lockdown. Policymakers who are considering introducing restrictive measures to contain COVID-19 may benefit from understanding such health and wellbeing implications. Funding Statement: National Social Science Foundation, China (Grant number: 1509093). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: All respondents agreed to participate in the study, which was approved by the ethics committee at Tongji University.