Trial reportJournal of sport and health science2021
No independent associations between physical activity and clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19.
Trial report in Journal of sport and health science, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association between physical activity and risk of COVID-19 infection or clinical outcomes of the patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene · 2023Pooled it
- Physical activity during COVID-19 pandemic: A 5-year retrospect.Sports medicine and health science · 2025Review
- Protective Effect of Daily Physical Activity Against COVID-19 in a Young Adult Population on Reunion Island.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Does Physical Activity Affect Clinical Symptoms and the Quality of Life of Mild-Infected Individuals with COVID-19 in China? A Cross-Sectional Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- COVID-19: Insights into long-term manifestations and lockdown impacts.Journal of sport and health science · 2023Review
- Baseline physical activity and the risk of severe illness and mortality from COVID-19: A dose-response meta-analysis.Preventive medicine reports · 2023Review
- The role of physical activity in the clinical outcomes of people diagnosed with Covid-19: A systematic review.JSAMS plus · 2022Review
- Predictors of Basic Activity in Daily Living and Length of Hospitalization in Patients with COVID-19.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The influence of physical activity level on the length of stay in hospital in older men survivors of COVID-19.Sport sciences for health · 2022Article
- Effects of physical activity on the severity of illness and mortality in COVID-19 patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Associations between sedentary behavior and negative emotions in adolescents during home confinement: Mediating role of social support and sleep quality.International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRegular physical activity (PA) has been postulated to improve, or at least maintain, immunity across the life span. However, the link between physical (in)activity and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) remains to be established. This small-scale prospective cohort study is nested within a randomized controlled trial aimed to investigate the possible associations between PA levels and clinical outcomes among hospitalized patients with moderate to severe COVID-19.
methodsHospitalized patients with COVID-19 (mean age: 54.9 years) were recruited from the Clinical Hospital of the School of Medicine of the University of Sao Paulo (a quaternary referral teaching hospital) and from Ibirapuera Field Hospital, both located in Sao Paulo, Brazil. PA level was assessed using the Baecke Questionnaire of Habitual Physical Activity. The primary outcome was hospital length of stay. The secondary outcomes were mortality, admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and mechanical ventilation requirement.
resultsThe median hospital length of stay was 7.0 ± 4.0 days, median ± IQR; 3.3% of patients died, 13.8% were admitted to the ICU, and 8.6% required mechanical ventilation. Adjusted linear regression models showed that PA indices were not associated with hospital length of stay (work index: β = -0.57 (95% confidence interval (95%CI): -1.80 to 0.65), p = 0.355; sport index: β = 0.43 (95%CI: -0.94 to 1.80), p = 0.536; leisure-time index: β = 1.18 (95%CI: -0.22 to 2.59), p = 0.099; and total activity index: β = 0.20 (95%CI: -0.48 to 0.87), p = 0.563). None of the PA indices were associated with mortality, admission to the ICU, or mechanical ventilation requirement (all p > 0.050).
conclusionAmong hospitalized patients with COVID-19, PA did not independently associate with hospital length of stay or any other clinically relevant outcomes. These findings should be interpreted as meaning that, among already hospitalized patients with more severe forms of COVID-19, being active is a potential protective factor likely outweighed by a cluster of comorbidities (e.g., type 2 diabetes, hypertension, weight excess) and older age, suggesting that the benefit of PA against the worsening of COVID-19 may vary across stages of the disease.
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