LAUSR

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a considerable adverse effect on individuals’ lifestyles and physical and mental health. The pandemic has resulted in a deterioration in mental health and a substantial decrease in physical activity worldwide.1,2 The benefits of physical activity on mental health have been well documented and thus one may deduce the decrease in physical activity has exacerbated the decline in mental health during the pandemic.3 The Taiwanese government did not enforce a lockdown and thus Taiwan can be regarded as a unique case study of the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather, the Taiwanese government implemented measures such as strict social distancing, quarantine, the mandatory wearing of face masks in public, and measurement of body temperature at all entrances to buildings. It is believed that these measures contributed to the country recording only 16 662 infections, including 848 deaths, from COVID-19 as at December 6, 2021.4 Consequently, 71.6% of Taiwanese adults perceived that the pandemic had not disrupted their lives.5 Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of physical activity on mental health before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in this unique environment.