Relationship Between Sedentary Behavior and Depression Among Japanese Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Cross-sectional Online Survey

Background: Sedentary behavior, particularly prevalent during the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has been shown to lead to depression. In medical students, this could negatively affect the provision of healthcare. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the association between sedentary behavior and depression in Japanese medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: : An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from July 30 to August 30, 2021, using anonymous questionnaire system to assess respondents’ sociodemographic characteristics, physical activity, sedentary behavior among 1000 Japanese university students. Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2). The data of 484 respondents (48.4%) were included in a stepwise analysis, where we set the difference between medical and non-medical students as Model 1 and that between medical students with and without depression as Model 2. Results: : In Model 1, medical students were less physically active ( p <0.001), had longer sedentary time ( p <0.001), and had higher PHQ-2 scores ( p =0.048) than non-medical students. Moreover, Model 2 showed that longer sedentary time (OR=1.001, p =0.036) and screen time for leisure (OR=1.003, p =0.002) were associated with depression among medical students. Conclusions: : Based on these results, it is evident that reducing Japanese medical students’ sedentary time and leisure screen time can help combat depression during COVID-19 pandemic; thus, these results can guide the development of appropriate interventions to prevent and treat depression.