Maintenance of Physical Activity Behavior by Individuals with Prediabetes and Diabetes during the COVID-19 Pandemic after Completing an Exercise Intervention in Brazil

Abstract

This cross-sectional study evaluated the perception of individuals with prediabetes/diabetes about their living conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify the facilitators, barriers, and reasons to remain physically active at home and adhere to recommended exercise. It included individuals with prediabetes/diabetes who had completed an exercise intervention, which started on-site and moved to a remote home-based regime due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were advised to keep exercising at home. The outcomes were assessed by a bespoke questionnaire that was developed by the research team, the Brazilian Portuguese adapted version of the Exercise Adherence Rating scale, and the Motives for Physical Activity Measure-Revised scale. Of 15 participants (8 female, 58 ± 11 years), most reported positive perceptions about their living conditions and few difficulties maintaining some physical activity at home. However, only 53.8% of them adhered to the recommended exercise. Time flexibility, no need for commuting, and a sense of autonomy were the main facilitators of home exercise, while a lack of adequate space was the main barrier. The descending order of median scores that were obtained in each reason for physical activity was fitness, enjoyment, competence, social, and appearance. Individuals with prediabetes/diabetes maintained some physical activity during the pandemic, mainly motivated by health concerns.

An Australian exploratory study of individual physical functioning and wellbeing of rural clients with chronic diseases whose structured exercise groups were cancelled due to social distancing requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…A recent systematic review found that home exercise programs were inferior to structured exercise programs in people with intermittent claudication, unless monitoring was included (Pymer et al 2021). A crosssectional study of individuals with prediabetes/diabetes who had completed an exercise intervention which started on-site and moved to a remote home-based regime due to the COVID-19 pandemic, found that only 53.8% adhered to the recommended exercise at home (Ponciano et al 2022). Our findings highlighted that many clients did not actively complete their home exercise program during lockdown, nor did they recall engaging with their exercise group leader via phone.…”