Changes in physical activity, dietary and sleeping pattern among the general population in COVID-19: A systematic review protocol

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory disease caused by a new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2. Home confinement and movement restrictions can affect lifestyle changes and may lead to non-communicable diseases (NCD). This systematic review will provide a detailed summary of changing patterns of physical activities, diet and sleep among the general public in COVID-19. METHODS: PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE, Science Direct, and Scopus will be, among eight bibliographic databases, applied and search work will take one month (from January 2021 until February 2021). Key search terms will include common characteristics of physical activity, dietary pattern, sleeping pattern, and COVID-19. The reviewers will fully apply the inclusion and exclusion criteria framed by PICOS as well as the screening form and the PRISMA flow for selecting the papers eligible for this review. Moreover, the reviewers will use a self-developed excel table to extract the required information on dietary pattern changes, physical activities and sleep patterns changes, and the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Nonrandomized Studies (RoBANS) for practicing quality assessment. We will include only observational studies and analyze the extracted information qualitatively and the review output will be based on the eligible studies’ outcomes. DISCUSSION: Changes in physical activity, dietary and sleep patterns are challenging to the public health professionals regarding the risk factors for NCD, and long-term effects might impact the controlling of the NCD. Evidence-based research information is needed regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are a few global data on changes in physical activity, dietary and sleep patterns. Furthermore, innovative public health interventions or implementations are needed to maintain the positive health status of the population in the long run as the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: This systematic review is based on a protocol registered with PROSPERO CRD42021232667.