Determination of exercise habits, physical activity level and anxiety level of postmenopausal women during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

In this study, researchers aimed to determine exercise habits, physical activity (PA) levels and anxiety levels of postmenopausal women (PMw) during the self-quarantine period of the COVID-19 pandemic. 104 PMw (59.00 ± 6.61 years old) participated in the study. It was found that PMw who had exercise habits before the pandemic period had higher PA levels, and the women with high anxiety levels during the pandemic had lower PA levels (p < .05). Anxiety levels and PA were negatively associated with each other. Numbers of grandchildren also affected the PA and anxiety levels of the PMw negatively. Women should be encouraged to initiate or maintain PA levels in all circumstances.

The Effect of COVID-19-related Lockdowns on Diet and Physical Activity in Older Adults: A Systematic Review

“…Five studies exclusively reported on changes in dietary behaviors in older individuals [ 12 , 18 , 26 , 27 , 31 ], 17 exclusively reported on changes in physical activity [ 13 - 17 , 19 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 28 - 30 , 33 - 35 , 37 , 38 ], and 5 reported on both [ 20 , 21 , 24 , 32 , 36 ]. Many (n = 17) studies reported on a variety of diet and/or physical activity outcomes for the total study population but provided only selective results for the specified age group of 50+ years [ 12 , 14 , 16 , 17 , 19 - 25 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 32 , 37 , 38 ].…”

Moving Forward: Understanding Correlates of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour during COVID-19—An Integrative Review and Socioecological Approach

“…Prior behaviour and, more specifically, habits were associated with PA engagement during the periods of restrictions [23,28,30,31,37,42,57,67,75,78]. It is, however, apparent that relationships and interactions between factors from different levels of the socioecological model and the magnitude of effect that these may have at an individual level may, at least in part, explain some of the variations in the behaviour observed.…”

“…Correlations were identified with anxiety, depression/mood, and emotions. For anxiety, higher levels were associated with decreased or less PA [23,35,41,56,61,71,74,80] and outdoor activity [49], whilst lower levels were associated with participating in physical exercise [48,74] and achieving recommended PA guidelines [53]. Further, non-directional, significant interactions were also reported [26,63].…”

“…Living alone was associated with greater decreases [37] or starting to do less intense PA [70], whereas although some reported no effect of having dependents at home [37], others reported that having children was associated with greater increases in PA [47,67] or starting to do more intense PA [70]. Furthermore, although the volume of PA increased as the number of children per household increased [79], the reverse was observed for the number of grandchildren [23]. Having a partner or family to exercise with [33] (particularly for females [22]), a dog [62,67], being married [41], a housewife [65], or living with a nuclear but not joint family [65] were all related to higher PA levels as opposed to being single, which was associated to higher levels of physical inactivity [65].…”

“…Larger reductions in PA were observed in adults who previously attended the gym [37], exercised with friends [33], or engaged with a sports club [33,42]. Merely participating/being previously active and therefore having an established habit had positive effects on PA levels [23,30,31,42,67], including time spent engaging in outdoor activity [49], and led to being more likely to achieve PA guidelines [38]. However, trends were observed whereby adults classified as "less active" before COVID-19 actually also increased the time they spent being physically active during the period of restrictions [28,57].…”