QUALITY OF LIFE, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND DIETARY BEHAVIOR OF ACADEMICS DURING THE PANDEMIC PERIOD

Abstract

The radical changes in the higher education system, caused by the pandemic, forced universities to adapt their new activities, derived from online education, which, in principle, meant the use of human resources, with consequences still little studied. The aim of the study was to evaluate the quality of life, physical activities, and dietary behavior of university staff, in the context of the pandemic. The study was carried out based on the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire (AEBQ), which was applied to the academic staff of the Technical University of Moldova - the only engineering higher education institution in the Republic of Moldova. Respondents completed the questionnaire on the Google platform between 13.10.2021 - 25.11.2021, and the final database has been downloaded as a Microsoft Excel file. The results of the survey were analyzed by descriptive statistics. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated to determine the full reliability of the questionnaire. 34.7 % women and 65.3% men participated in the survey. 47% of respondents, at the stage of completing the questionnaire, already had Covid-19, and 19.8% stated that social activities were affected by physical health or emotional problems. The results obtained could contribute to the development of strategies to promote the health and quality of life of academics and shape responses to the inevitable future pandemics.