A comparative investigation of the mental health and health behavior habits of hungarian women with diplomas in Budapest and in rural areas during the pandemic

Abstract

In our study, we examined whether the Covid-19 epidemic has changed the health behaviour habits of female graduates in the Hungarian capital and rural areas. Our goal was to find out whether the lock down and quarantine situation had an impact on women’s smoking, alcohol drinking, coffee drinking and exercise habits, and if so in what direction. As a possible background mechanism, the occurrence of depression was also examined in comparison to the period before the pandemic. According to our hypothesis, the pandemic had a negative effect on the health behaviour of female graduates in the capital, which may be related to the worse depression indicators typical of the period. In our research, we used an online questionnaire method. The survey lasted from 1 September to 31 December 2021. After the data sorting, we received 1888 evaluable data sets. The questionnaire was filled out by female graduates between the ages of 18 and 65. During our analysis, our hypothesis was not confirmed. We did not see any significant changes in women's health behaviour either in Budapest or in the countryside. We detected significant changes only in the case of physical activity, however, in both directions. Nevertheless, the increased occurrence of depression during pandemic is certainly noteworthy.