Multiple physical exercises improving the physical and mental health of PLA medical staffs in Chinese Ebola treatment unit in liberia / 第二军医大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of multiple physical exercises in improving the physical and mental health of PLA medical staffs in the Chinese Ebola Treatment Unit in Liberia. Methods The subjects were the Chinese medical staffs from People) Liberation Army who worked in the Chinese Ebola Treatment Unit in Liberia. The subjects were organized to participate in a variety of physical exercises during their stay in Liberia. And the effects of exercise on sleep, emotion, fear, physical quality of the subjects were investigated by a self-designed questionnaire. Results More than 60. 29% of the medical staffs believed that multiple physical exercises could improve their sleep quality; more than 80% thought that it could bring joyful mood, relieve anxiety, improve appetite, and enhance the physical quality and immunity; and 76. 47% appeared satisfied with the multiple physical exercises organized by the medical team. Running (25. 00%), fast walking (21. 88%), aerobic gymnastics (17. 19%) and badminton (17. 19%) in order were thought to be the most important exercises for improving the mood and physical fitness. The consistency analysis showed that the Kappa values between table tennis and running, walking were 0. 333 and 0. 381, respectively (P<0. 01), and the Kappa value between football and running was 0. 340 (P<0. 01). Conclusion Multiple physical exercise can improve the physical and mental health of medical staffs working in Chinese Ebola Treatment Unit in Liberia. Whole body exercises including running, walking, aerobics gymnastics and badminton have significant improvement effect, and they may be used to improve the physical health of staffs involved in other similar missions in the future.