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Public health
Original research
Impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on psychological health and nutritional habits in Italy: results from the #PRESTOinsieme study
  1. Giulia Lorenzoni1,
  2. Danila Azzolina1,2,
  3. Elisabetta Maresio3,
  4. Silvia Gallipoli4,
  5. Marco Ghidina4,
  6. Solidea Baldas5,
  7. Paola Berchialla6,
  8. Maria Cecilia Giron7,
  9. Marco Silano8,
  10. Dario Gregori1
  11. #PRESTOinsieme Study Group
    1. 1Unit of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Public Health, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular Sciences, and Public Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
    2. 2Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
    3. 3Psychotherapy Unit Prochild Onlus, Trieste, Italy
    4. 4Zeta Research Ltd, Trieste, Italy
    5. 5Prochild Onlus, Trieste, Italy
    6. 6Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
    7. 7Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
    8. 8Unit of Human Nutrition and Health, Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Italian National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy
    1. Correspondence to Prof Dario Gregori; dario.gregori{at}unipd.it

    Abstract

    Objectives The present work aims to present the results of the ‘PRESTOinsieme’ (which is ‘we will be together soon’ in English). The web-based survey (www.prestoinsieme.com) describes changes in lifestyle habits and symptoms of psychological discomfort in the Italian population during the COVID-19 lockdown.

    Design Cross-sectional online survey disseminated by messaging apps (ie, WhatsApp and Telegram) and social networks (ie, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn).

    Setting Italy.

    Participants Italian population older than 16 years of age.

    Exposure COVID-19 lockdown.

    Main outcomes and measures Survey respondents filled out a set of validated questionnaires aimed at assessing lifestyle habits and psychological health, that is, the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) to screen for psychological distress, the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) to screen for post-traumatic stress and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D).

    Results Survey respondents totalled 5008. Moderate or severe psychological distress was reported in 25.5% and 22% of survey respondents, respectively. Lower age, female gender, being unemployed (OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.22 to 2.02) or being a student (OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.31 to 2.28) were predictors of more severe depressive symptoms.

    Conclusions The present study is one of the largest population-based surveys conducted in Italy during the first COVID-19 lockdown, providing valuable data about the Italian population’s psychological health. Further studies should be conducted to understand whether psychological distress persists after the end of the lockdown.

    • COVID-19
    • nutrition & dietetics
    • anxiety disorders
    • public health

    Data availability statement

    Data are available on reasonable request. The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

    This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

    https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-048916

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      Data availability statement

      Data are available on reasonable request. The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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      Supplementary materials

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      • Supplementary Data

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      Footnotes

      • GL and DA are joint first authors.

      • Twitter @mceciliagiron

      • Collaborators #PRESTOinsieme Study Group: Elisabetta Maresio (Prochild Onlus), Marco Silano (Italian National Institute of Health), Dario Gregori (University of Padova), Giulia Lorenzoni (University of Padova), Nicolas Destro (University of Padova), Danila Azzolina (University of Piemonte Orientale), Corrado Lanera (University of Padova), Paola Berchialla (University of Turin), Silvia Gallipoli (Zeta Research), Solidea Baldas (Prochild Onlus), Federica Zobec (Zeta Research), Marco Ghidina (Zeta Research).

      • Contributors DG: conception of the work; DG, EM and MS: design of the work; SG, SB and MG: data acquisition; DA: data analysis; GL: interpretation of results and draft of the work; PB and MCG: substantial revision of the work. DG is the guarantor.

      • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

      • Competing interests None declared.

      • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

      • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

      • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.