Health promoting behaviour of medical versus non-medical students during COVID-19 pandemic: results from the COLA cross-sectional study

To investigate the COVID-19 pandemic related alteration of health promoting behaviour during lockdown among medical students compared to other students. In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 1940 Bavarian students. Participants were asked to complete an online questionnaire 3 weeks after lockdown implementation, evaluating their lifestyle behaviour focusing on self-reported and objectively assessed physical activity. 1154 medical (59.5%) and 786 non-medical (40.5%) students were included (median age 22.0 [IQR, 20.0–25.0], 71.5% female). Physical activity decreased in both groups after lockdown implementation. During lockdown, medical students reported higher physical activity levels compared to non-medical students. This was corroborated by daily step count data assessed by wearables (median steps per day [IQR], 6979 [5218–9348] versus 6581 [4497–8491], p = 0.02). Smoking behaviour during lockdown did not differ between medical and non-medical students (increased in 11.8% vs 13.6%, decreased in 31.9% versus 36.9%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, alteration of lifestyle behaviour among medical students was significantly different compared to non-medical students. This result suggests that medical students are more concerned about health promoting behaviour even in crisis situations.