Journal Article

Prevalence and correlates of physical activity in a sample of UK adults observing social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Smith, Lee, Caperchione, Cristina, Armstrong, Nicola, Barnett, Yvonne, Butler, Laurie, Meyer, Jacob, Schuch, Felipe, Lopez-Sanchez, Guillermo F, Tully, Mark A, Jacob, Louis, Abufaraj, Mohammad, Veronese, Nicola, Grabovac, Igor, Yakkundi, Anita

2020

Overview

ObjectiveTo investigate the levels and correlates of physical activity during COVID-19 social distancing in a sample of the UK public.MethodsThis paper presents analyses of data from a cross-sectional study. Levels of physical activity during COVID-19 social distancing were self-reported. Participants also reported on sociodemographic and clinical data. The association between several factors and physical activity was studied using regression models.ResultsNine hundred and eleven adults were included (64.0% were women and 50.4% of the participants were aged 35–64 years). 75.0% of the participants met the physical activity guidelines during social distancing. Meeting these guidelines during social distancing was significantly associated with sex (reference: male; female: OR=1.60, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.33), age (reference: 18–34 years; ≥65 years: OR=4.11, 95% CI 2.01 to 8.92), annual household income (reference: <£15 000; £15 000–<£25 000: OR=2.03, 95% CI 1.11 to 3.76; £25 000–<£40 000: OR=3.16, 95% CI 1.68 to 6.04; £40 000–<£60 000: OR=2.27, 95% CI 1.19 to 4.34; ≥£60 000: OR=2.11, 95% CI 1.09 to 4.09), level of physical activity per day when not observing social distancing (OR=1.00 (per 1 min increase), 95% CI 1.00 to 1.01), and any physical symptom experienced during social distancing (reference: no; yes: OR=0.31, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.46).ConclusionDuring COVID-19, social distancing interventions should focus on increasing physical activity levels among younger adults, men and those with low annual household income. It should be noted in the present sample that women and younger adults are over-represented.

• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group Ltd,BMJ Publishing Group LTD,BMJ Publishing Group
• Subject: Age / Chronic illnesses / Coronaviruses / COVID-19 / Disease transmission / Divorce / Epidemiology / Exercise / Family income / Life Sciences / Older people / Pandemics / physical activity / Public health / Regression analysis / Short Report / Social distancing / Variables / Variance analysis