ArticleArchives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique2025
Long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness in south American adults: a multi-country cross-sectional online survey.
Article in Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Exercise and Sports Among Working-Age Citizens in Lithuania Since the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Annual Comparative Study (2021-2024).Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
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14 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundRestriction measures during the COVID-19 pandemic may have reduced opportunities to engage in physical activity. This study explored the changes in self-reported physical activity level (PAL), risk factors, and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF) among south American adults by comparing data reflecting the pre-pandemic period to data collected during the survey.
methodsWe conducted a cross-sectional online survey between July 2021 through March 2022 using validated questionnaires (e.g., GPAQ and WHO-STEPS) on a convenience sample of 1,934 adults (68.7% women) from Argentina (n = 484), Brazil (n = 405), Chile (n = 279), Colombia (n = 343) and Uruguay (n = 423). We compared self-reported PAL, risk factors, and eCRF before the pandemic period and at the time of the survey (mean 842 days from the first reported case in each country). Data were presented as medians (interquartile range [IQR]) or means (95% confidence interval [CI]) for continuous variables and percentages for categorical ones. Paired data analyses were conducted using paired t-tests, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, and McNamar's tests, as applicable.
resultsWe observed a decrease in PAL at work (median, 0 METs/min/week and interquartile range, [0-240] vs. 0 METs/min/week [0-30]; p = 0.032) and active transportation domains (0 METs/min/week [0-693] vs. 0 METs/min/week [0-594]; p = 0.008). In addition, the median sedentary time on weekdays increased by 60 min/day (360 [240-540] vs 420 [240-600]; p < 0.001). We also observed an increase in the proportion of participants with hypertension (12.9 vs. 16.5%), diabetes (6.8 vs. 9.8%), dyslipidemia (18.9 to 24%), depression symptoms (14.4 to 15.4%) and obesity (15.4 to 18.2%) compared with pre-pandemic levels (all p-values < 0.05). The eCRF was significantly lower at the survey time compared with pre-pandemic levels (mean difference, -1.17 mL/min/kg (or 3.34%): 95% CI, -1.03 to -1.30) even after adjusting for age (-0.50 mL/min/kg (or 1.45%): 95% CI -0.37 to -0.64).
conclusionsAcross five countries in South America, social restriction policies to control the COVID-19 pandemic may have reduced physical activity and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness with no recovery until the survey time.
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