ArticleMedicine and science in sports and exercise2021
Factors Protecting against a Decline in Physical Activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Article in Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 96 citations in OpenAlex.
- Causes of COVID-19 Outbreaks During Sports and Exercise: A Systematic Review.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025Pooled it
- Changes in Physical Activity Patterns Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Longitudinal Weight Gain and Related Risk Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Adults in the US.Nutrients · 2021Trial
- Cardiometabolic health of low- and higher-income adults in the United States, 2009-2023.American heart journal · 2026Article
- The Effects of Neighborhood Violence on Physical Activity Following the COVID-19 Stay-at-Home Order: A Multilevel Analysis.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Longitudinal Study of Changes in Daily and Hourly Steps During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan.Journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Grip strength and related modifiable and non-modifiable factors among nurses: a comparative analysis of pre- and post-pandemic data.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- Physical Activity Amid a Pandemic: How Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors Shaped Behaviors During COVID-19.Journal of prevention (2022) · 2025Article
- Effects of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns on college students' physical fitness: A comparative study.PloS one · 2025Article
- The 100-Days: Physical Exercise and Challenges to Assess, Maintain and Improve Physical Fitness During Lockdown.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- The self-reported impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological health of U.S. Air Force cyber personnel.Military psychology : the official journal of the Division of Military Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2024Article
- Article
- Impact of the pandemic on leisure physical activity and alcohol consumption.BMC public health · 2024Article
- COVID-19 Pandemic as an Equalizer of the Health Returns of Educational Attainment for Black and White Americans.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2024Article
- Article
- Trail use and recreational physical activity behavior of trail users and non-users during COVID-19 restrictions in Colorado Springs, Colorado.Journal of healthy eating and active living · 2024Article
- Effects of the COVID-19 associated United Kingdom lockdown on physical activity in older adults at high risk of cardiovascular disease: a mixed methods perspective from the MedEx-UK multicenter trial.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The influence of home isolation during COVID-19 on the physical fitness development of college students: a study utilizing repeated measures analysis of variance.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Motivational Profiles and Associations With Physical Activity Before, During, and After the COVID-19 Pandemic: Retrospective Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Comparative research on the development of college students' physical fitness based on online physical education during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe spread of COVID-19 and the associated stay-at-home orders and shutdowns of gyms and fitness centers have drastically influenced health behaviors leading to widespread reductions in physical activity (PA). The recent Call to Action from the American College of Sports Medicine has promoted "innovative strategies to promote PA during the COVID-19 pandemic." We aimed to identify individual-level factors that protected against declines in PA levels amid the COVID-19 restrictions.
methodsWe used the Pennington Biomedical COVID-19 Health Behaviors Survey for our analyses and used mixed-effect linear and generalized linear models to estimate the effects of individual-level factors on changes in PA levels during the COVID-19 restrictions.
resultsParticipants (n = 4376) provided information on PA behaviors before and during the COVID-19 shutdown. Overall, PA levels declined by a mean ± SD of 112 ± 1460 MET·min·wk-1 during the COVID-19 shutdown; however, changes in PA were heterogeneous, with 55% of the participants reporting increases in or maintenance of PA during that time. Several social and demographic factors were significantly related to declines in PA, including high prepandemic PA levels, living alone (difference = 118 MET·min·wk-1), low household income (difference between the highest and the lowest income group = 363 MET·min·wk-1), COVID-19-related changes in income (difference = 110 MET·min·wk-1), and loss of employment (difference = 168 MET·min·wk-1). The substitution of prepandemic gym attendance with the purchase and use of home exercise equipment or exercise through virtual fitness platforms promoted increases in PA during the COVID-19 shutdown.
conclusionsWhile promoting PA through the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to consider demographic factors, which greatly influence health behaviors and implementation of, and access to, replacement behaviors. The promotion of such strategies could help maintain PA levels during potential future stay-at-home orders.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.