The impact of COVID-19 on physical and mental health: A longitudinal study

In this paper, we exploit variation in COVID-19 infections and deaths across Chinese cities to identify the health impacts of COVID-19 based on longitudinal data at the individual level. Our paper provides empirical evidence of the immediate impact of COVID-19 on both physical and mental health. Utilizing a difference-in-differences methodology and focusing on changes in within-individual health condition between pre-COVID-19 and the early stages of COVID-19, we find robust evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has an adverse effect on self-perceived health condition, chronic illness, sleep, and depression. Our findings are robust to alternative constructions of cities’ exposure to COVID-19, to the exclusion of Wuhan city, which was hit the hardest and had experienced the most stringent lockdowns. Furthermore, accounting for the impact of COVID-19 policies, our results indicate that the decline in physical health can be attributed to the shock of the pandemic, while emotional health is mainly affected by anti-contagion policies.