Heliyon (Nov 2020)

Physical activity during COVID-19 pandemic in the Iranian population: A brief report

  • H. Amini,
  • A. Isanejad,
  • N. Chamani,
  • F. Movahedi-Fard,
  • F. Salimi,
  • M. Moezi,
  • S. Habibi

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 11
p. e05411

Abstract

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COVID-19 pandemic and restrictive public health measures due to it can have many effects on physical activity. Our study aimed to compare the levels of physical activity levels (expressed as MET–minute/week), among Qom city (Iran) adults in pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic (January 2020 and 20 to 29 May 2020, respectively). 670 adults were included in this study and grouped based on age and gender. The short-form International physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ, SF) was distributed to the participants through an online survey. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for statistical analyses. The present study showed that the level of physical activity decreased significantly during COVID-19 compared to pre-COVID-19 in both sexes and age groups (p < 0.001). Also, this study found that a total of 78% of the participants did not meet the physical activity guidelines during COVID-19 in Iran. Our results indicate the necessity to consider an integrated and comprehensive approach to reduce the inactivity caused by COVID-19.

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