Association Between Adherence to Healthy Lifestyles and Depressive Symptoms Among Japanese Hospital Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between adherence to healthy lifestyles (as measured by the healthy lifestyle index [HLI]) and depressive symptoms among staff members at a large national medical institution in Tokyo, Japan, during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study sample consisted of 1228 staff members aged between 21 and 73 years who participated in a cross-sectional survey conducted in July 2020. We constructed the HLI by assigning 1 point to each healthy lifestyle factor: normal body mass index, sufficient physical activity, non-smoking status, non-to-moderate alcohol consumption, and sufficient sleep duration. The multivariate adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for depressive symptoms were 1.00 (reference), 0.71 (0.46-1.11), 0.66 (0.43-1.01), and 0.56 (0.33-0.94) for participants with HLI scores of 0 to 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively (P for trend = 0.032). The present study suggests the role of healthy lifestyles in mental health among hospital staff working during the pandemic.