Page 218 - GHES-3-2

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Health behaviors during COVID-19 pandemic

purchasing behaviors and on the level of ease in mediating and the degree of ease in mediating daily expenses during
individual expenses following the start of the pandemic the pandemic. The former outcome variable is restricted to
within China. In our analyses, the main exposure (i.e., a 3-day period after the lockdown in Wuhan, and the latter
healthcare expenditure) was further classified into medical one includes a window from the start of the pandemic up
expenditure and fitness expenditure. Both medical until this questionnaire was disseminated and answered.
expenditure and fitness expenditure variables were Clearly, a substantial temporal variation may exist, thus the
dichotomized into cost (expense >0 Yuan) and no-cost questions being asked may oversimplify the measurement
(expense = 0 Yuan). of PPE purchase and the financial sustainability of the
This is the first study to examine the impact of fitness study subjects. Furthermore, assessing PPE purchasing
expenditure on PPE purchases and the degree of ease in behavior within the 3-day window may not be fruitful as
covering daily expenses during the COVID-19 pandemic. purchases of supplies could have increased following the
Fitness expenditure is shown to have a significant association 3-day window as more residents are aware of the outbreak
with subjects’ financial sustainability during the COVID-19 and its widespread effects. In response to this, it may be
pandemic period, measured by how easy it is for them in beneficial to explore the association of these predictors
mediating daily expenses following the pandemic. This and/or other related predictors toward PPE purchasing
may probably be explained by how fitness expenditures are behavior that transcends this 3-day window. However, the
highly correlated with individuals’ level of wealth. Hence, present CHARLS dataset does not include this outcome of
there is no surprise that these individuals are capable of interest so other datasets examining a similar outcome but
comfortably covering their everyday expenses despite the within a longer time scale is warranted.
financial hardships experienced worldwide as a result of Finally, this study acknowledges that the internal
the pandemic. To further address the relationship between economic issues within China following the pandemic are
physical activity (PA) and its PPE purchase, future research prevalent. The financial impact of the pandemic on Chinese
is warranted. Conversely, although medical expenditure households was shaped by employment arrangements,
was reported to be significantly associated with the government support measures, and economic disparities
subjects’ financial sustainability as well, it suggests medical (White & Case, 2020; Zhang, 2020; Zhang et al., 2022).
expenditure decreases the odds of easily covering daily Unlike some Western countries that provided direct
expenses. This may shed light on prior medical expenses stimulus checks, China implemented targeted economic
posing a disadvantage for families in covering their daily relief policies, including tax reductions, subsidies for
expenses following a public health crisis, expressing how small businesses, and financial support for unemployed
radical changes in the economy (e.g., sudden lockdowns workers. However, the effectiveness of these measures
within some businesses following a pandemic) can impact varied across different socioeconomic groups. Further,
the financial sustainability of families going through public formal employees, especially in state-owned enterprises
health crises. and large corporations, experienced greater job security
The lack of confounding or mediating influence by and continued income flow, making them more financially
expenditures suggests that the relationship between PA resilient. In contrast, informal workers, self-employed
and panic PPE purchasing is independent of regular individuals, and small business owners faced greater
financial investments in health and fitness. It implies financial uncertainty, leading to cutbacks in healthcare
that panic buying behavior during the pandemic may be spending while prioritizing essential goods, such as PPE.
more closely linked to psychological factors, such as fear Furthermore, the government introduced tax exemptions,
and uncertainty (Nia et al., 2022; Kupcova et al., 2023), low-interest loans, and rent reductions for small businesses
rather than pre-existing health expenditure patterns. to maintain employment levels. In addition, local
These findings underscore the importance of addressing governments provided subsidies for essential healthcare
the psychological drivers of consumer behavior in health and PPE, particularly in rural and low-income areas.
crises, particularly among those who are highly health- These measures may have influenced household financial
conscious or physically active. behaviors by reducing the out-of-pocket burden for PPE
and medical expenses.
Finally, this study is not one without limitations: First,
adjusting for specific, yet reasonable covariates and potential Overall, it is unsurprising that PPE purchases increased
confounding can drastically reduce the sample size due following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic as
to the fact that a large proportion of the subjects did not evidenced by Cohen et al. (2020). These authors suggested
provide responses for the selected covariates. Second, the that, specifically within the US, the demand for PPE
main outcomes of interest are the PPE purchasing behavior was attributed to a panicked marketplace following the

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 210 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.6619