The Evaluation of Physical Activity Habits in North Italian People before and during COVID-19 Quarantine: A Pilot Study

Abstract

COVID-19 caused a global pandemic state. Many governments enforced quarantines which had several negative effects on peoples’ health. The present study aimed to investigate the social restriction effects on the physical activity (PA) habits of north Italian people and understand whether PA was a healthy support during lockdown. Moreover, it analysed some possible strategies which could promote an active lifestyle when the pandemic ends. A new questionnaire was proposed (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.816), and 309 surveys were collected in people from two Italian regions (53.72% from Emilia-Romagna and 46.28% from Veneto; 62.46% were female and 37.54% were male; and the age range was 46.67 ± 15.45 years). The number of younger people (≤ 25 years) who practiced PA increased during lockdown (p < 0.01); in addition, they were more active than people who were 26–35 years old (p < 0.001). The training frequency before COVID-19 was higher in females than males (p = 0.01), and the frequency of weekly PA increased during lockdown in groups aged 26–35 years (p < 0.001). Despite the fact that PA was a psychological support during lockdown (p < 0.001), performing forced home-based PA demotivated people (p < 0.001). Finally, people thought to practice outdoor PA (OPA) at the end of lockdown because they wanted to retain contact with nature, which can improve psychological well-being. Future strategies to promote OPA may increase participation in PA, especially in older people.

Effects of quarantine on Physical Activity prevalence in Italian Adults: a pilot study

“…In addition, we found that many youths selected the socio-economics problems as motivation that conducted them to not practice PA after the quarantine. Differently, several studies agreed with our outcomes and found that the PA levels decreased in elder people during the lockdown, which may represent a relevant threat to public health ( Giustino et al, 2020 ; Ferrante et al, 2020 ; Gallè et al, 2021 ; Mauro et al, 2022 ). Although the psychological aspects (meant as problems and/or benefits) were the main reasons that influenced the PA practice, many elders motivated their inactivity through health problems, which could indicate they saw the PA practice as harmful to their disease status.…”

“…Of these, one study suggested that most of the sample (679 Italian adults) maintained their training habits during the lockdown, and people who remained active tend to experience higher levels of energy and calm, and lower levels of perceived fatigue ( Di Corrado et al, 2020 ). In addition, one research did not show discrepancies in PA prevalence and suggested that both men and women tried to stay active in quarantine ( Mauro et al, 2022 ). However, we observed that the reduction in PA prevalence during the lockdown was more evident in older adults, in agreement with the above-mentioned results.…”

“…To promote and facilitate the PA practice, the WHO recommended easy guidelines for different populations ( World Health Organization, 2020 ). Despite this, many studies showed that social restrictions negatively impacted people’s habits and made them less active ( Lesser & Nienhuis, 2020 ; Gjaka et al, 2021 ; Zaccagni, Toselli & Barbieri, 2021 ; Puccinelli et al, 2021 ; Mauro et al, 2022 ; Dallolio et al, 2022 ).…”