Comparing the Effectiveness of Mindfulness and Aerobic Exercise on Psychological Factors and Sleep Quality Following Recovery from COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic have led to some psychological disorders and sleep problems that should be taken into account after recovery. After recovering from COVID-19 people are at risk of sleep disorders, depression, and low quality of life and there is paucity of information about this issue. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness and aerobic exercise on depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and sleep quality in recovered COVID-19 patients.

An intervention field research was performed in 60 male and female patients (mean age: 39.52±5.82) recovered from COVID-19 in Kermanshah, Iran. Participants were randomly divided into four groups (n=15): 1) attending mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, 2) aerobic exercise, 3) combination of MBSR and aerobic exercise, and 4) control group. The study was carried out at four stages: pre-test, interventions, post-test, and follow-up test. Dependent variables included depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Bonferroni Post hoc test in 4*3 mixed ANOVA was used for data analysis.

In this study, depression and perceived stress reduced in all experimental groups compared to the control group (P= 0.001). Also, sleep quality improved in these groups compared to the control group (P= 0.001). Post hoc tests showed the superiority of combination of MBSR and aerobic exercise compared to other interventions.

According to current study, combination of MBSR and physical activity shows to be more helpful than mindfulness training and physical activity alone in improving psychological problems and sleep quality after recovering from COVID-19.