How to Spend Leisure Time during Home Quarantine to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Infection: A Descriptive-analytical Study among Individuals in Jahrom, Iran

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a specific type of pneumonia firstly observed in Wuhan, China, in late December 2019 and immediately spread all over the world. Following the worldwide trend in coping with this pandemic, individuals in Iran started to experience a new lifestyle in the quarantine period in order to remain safe from the disease. Home quarantine entails psychological, social, and economic consequences and requires the support and supervision of medical staff for implementation. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how to spend leisure time during home quarantine in order to prevent COVID-19 infection among the individuals in Jahrom, Iran, in 2020.

In the present cross-sectional descriptive study, 402 individuals residing in Jahrom participated in an online survey in 2020. The techniques for data collection used in this study involved the application of a demographic information questionnaire and self-made questionnaire investigating the way individuals spend their leisure time during home quarantine. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software (version 21) and descriptive and inferential tests.

Several home activities for leisure time with the highest frequency rates were reported as hobbies, life activities, skill acquisition, exercises and physical activities, spiritual activities, studying, and scientific activities, respectively. In this study, there was no statistically significant relationship between demographic variables and total score of leisure time (P<0.05).

The results of the present study showed that hobbies and life activities for the prevention of COVID-19 during home quarantine were observed with the highest frequency. Therefore, it is suggested to the officials and policymakers of the country to take measures in order to increase the leisure time of families during the COVID-19 pandemic; accordingly, individuals will be able to engage in activities of interest at home.