Economic factors influencing the health behavior changes during COVID-19 pandemic: multiple correspondence analysis results

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate how health behaviors changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify the economic factors influencing these changes. There were considered income situation and labor market situation as the potential economic factors. Additionally, in the analysis, there were included other characteristics: age, gender, and education level. Health condition was considered through the prism of certain unhealthy characteristics: alcohol consumption, smoking cigarettes, lack of physical activity, and unfavorable eating habits. The study was carried out on the stratified sample of adult inhabitants of Poland (N=1067) in November 2020. To achieve the aim multiple correspondence analysis was used. The results show that the pandemic has changed health behaviors. The negative changes mainly concerned physical activity and eating habits, and only one-sixth reported an increase in alcohol use and cigarette smoking. An increase in negative health behavior was mostly associated with the following characteristics: male, lower age (between 30 and 59), employed persons, tertiary education, and higher income (the fourth and the fifth income quintile group). The exception was a physical activity, where all changes (both negative and positive) were associated with females, people with basic vocational and secondary education, the second and third quintile group, pensioners and retirees, 60 and above age.