Abstract

The pandemic containment strategy implemented in the country in its first months considered keeping the population in preventive quarantine, either total (CT) or partial (CP). The study aimed to determine the differences and similarities between the lifestyles (EVs) of adults in CT and CP, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A comparative cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out. Four hundred adults from the country´s central zone, aged between 20 to 59 years were selected with a non-probabilistic sampling for convenience using different virtual communication networks. The EVs were assessed by the FANTASTIC Questionnaire. Student's t-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used to compare the CT and CP groups, and Cohen's d to measure effect size. The main results were that both groups reported moderate and high levels of EVs, highlighting the total absence of Dangerous EVs. In comparative terms, the CP group presented better EV scores in general and at a specific level in the domains of Associativity and physical activity, Nutrition, Tobacco, Alcohol and other drugs, Sleep and stress, Insight, and Other behaviors; all with a small effect size. It is concluded that adults in PC have healthier EVs than those in CT. It is deduced that the conditions proposed by CT negatively affect healthy EVs in adults.