| dc.description.abstract | Background: The Covid 19 pandemic is to date one of the largest global health crises, causing millions of deaths worldwide. Older adults were especially vulnerable to the infection. Physical activity (PA) has been highlighted as an important strategy to maintain physical and mental health as people age. Knowledge on how the pandemic and lockdowns affected PA in older adults is scarce. The present study aims to investigate the impact of Covid 19 lockdowns on PA level in older adults.
Methods: This is a sub-study of the longitudinal randomized controlled trial in older adults, the Generation 100 project. In total, 1110 older adults (72.3 ± 2.0 years at baseline) participating in Generation 100 were included in the present study. Total physical activity was measured using a physical activity index, calculated from questionnaire answers obtained at year 5, 6, 7, and 8. A linear mixed model was utilized to analyze the changes over time between the groups, while the Wilcoxon test was used to investigate changes within each group.
Results: All groups had a significant reduction in total PA of 11.86% on average, from 2019 to 2020, coinciding with the implementation of Covid 19 lockdowns. Despite changes within all groups, there were no significant reductions in PA level between groups. Only MICT showed a significant decrease in PA frequency from year 6 to 7, while HIIT and Control had a significant reduction in duration of PA during the same period. Control and HIIT also showed a significant decrease in training intensity from 2019 to 2020, while only Control significantly decreased intensity according to the BORG scale during that time.
Conclusion: The present study suggests that Covid 19 lockdowns had a notable impact on the total PA in older adults, regardless of intervention group. These findings underscore the importance of considering PA patterns among the senior population when implementing preventative strategies during public health emergencies.
Keywords: Covid 19, physical activity, older adults, lockdowns | |
