IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i5p2511-d509796.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Physical Activity during the First COVID-19-Related Lockdown in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Eszter Füzéki

    (Division of Preventive and Sports Medicine, Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany
    Contributed equally.)

  • Jan Schröder

    (Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty for Psychology and Human Movement Science, Institute for Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, Turmweg 2, 20148 Hamburg, Germany
    Contributed equally.)

  • Nicolò Carraro

    (Center for Sports Medicine, Department of Prevention, ULSS2 Marca Trevigiana, 31100 Treviso, Italy)

  • Laura Merlo

    (Center for Sports Medicine, Department of Prevention, ULSS2 Marca Trevigiana, 31100 Treviso, Italy)

  • Rüdiger Reer

    (Department of Sports Medicine, Faculty for Psychology and Human Movement Science, Institute for Human Movement Science, University of Hamburg, Turmweg 2, 20148 Hamburg, Germany)

  • David A. Groneberg

    (Division of Preventive and Sports Medicine, Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany)

  • Winfried Banzer

    (Division of Preventive and Sports Medicine, Institute of Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Theodor-Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany)

Abstract

The spread of the COVID-19 virus was met by a strict lockdown in many countries around the world, with the closure of all physical activity (PA) facilities and limitations on moving around freely. The aim of the present online survey was to assess the effect of lockdown on physical activity in Italy. Physical activity was assessed using the European Health Interview Survey questionnaire. A total of 1500 datasets were analyzed. Differences between conditions were tested with a chi 2 -based (χ 2 ) test for categorical variables, and with the Student’s t -test for paired data. A fixed effects binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify relevant predictor variables to explain the compliance with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations. We found a substantial decline in all physical activity measures. Mean differences in walking and cycling metabolic equivalent of task minutes per week (METmin/week), respectively, were 344.4 (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 306.6–382.2; p < 0.001) and 148.5 (95% CI: 123.6–173.5; p < 0.001). Time spent in leisure time decreased from 160.8 to 112.6 min/week (mean difference 48.2; 95% CI: 40.4–56.0; p < 0.001). Compliance with WHO recommendations decreased from 34.9% to 24.6% (chi 2 (1, 3000) = 38.306, p < 0.001, V = 0.11). Logistic regression showed a reduced chance (OR 0.640, 95% CI: 0.484–0.845; p = 0.001) to comply with WHO PA recommendations under lockdown conditions. Measures to promote physical activity should be intensified to limit detrimental health effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Eszter Füzéki & Jan Schröder & Nicolò Carraro & Laura Merlo & Rüdiger Reer & David A. Groneberg & Winfried Banzer, 2021. "Physical Activity during the First COVID-19-Related Lockdown in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-11, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2511-:d:509796
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2511/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/5/2511/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne H. Y. Chu & Sheryl H. X. Ng & David Koh & Falk Müller-Riemenschneider, 2018. "Domain-Specific Adult Sedentary Behaviour Questionnaire (ASBQ) and the GPAQ Single-Item Question: A Reliability and Validity Study in an Asian Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-13, April.
    2. Rubén López-Bueno & Joaquín Calatayud & Lars L. Andersen & Carlos Balsalobre-Fernández & José Casaña & José A. Casajús & Lee Smith & Guillermo F. López-Sánchez, 2020. "Immediate Impact of the COVID-19 Confinement on Physical Activity Levels in Spanish Adults," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-10, July.
    3. Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Stefano Ferracuti & Osvalda De Giglio & Giuseppina Caggiano & Carmela Protano & Federica Valeriani & Eduardo Alfonso Parisi & Giuliana Valerio & Giorgio Liguori , 2020. "Sedentary Behaviors and Physical Activity of Italian Undergraduate Students during Lockdown at the Time of CoViD−19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-11, August.
    4. Eszter Füzéki & Winfried Banzer, 2018. "Physical Activity Recommendations for Health and Beyond in Currently Inactive Populations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-10, May.
    5. Raffaella Cancello & Davide Soranna & Gaia Zambra & Antonella Zambon & Cecilia Invitti, 2020. "Determinants of the Lifestyle Changes during COVID-19 Pandemic in the Residents of Northern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-14, August.
    6. Catherine B. Chan & Daniel A. Ryan, 2009. "Assessing the Effects of Weather Conditions on Physical Activity Participation Using Objective Measures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-16, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Lavinia Bianco & Mario Maninchedda & Benedetta Barchielli & Fabrizio Liguori & Giovanna Da Molin & Giorgio Liguori & Giovanni Battista Orsi & Stefano Ferracuti &, 2022. "How the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Impacted Daily Life? Assessing the Use of Web Resources for Recreational Activities in the Italian Adult Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-13, November.
    2. Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Paolo Roma & Stefano Ferracuti & Giovanna Da Molin & Giusy Diella & Maria Teresa Montagna & Giovanni Battista Orsi & Giorgio Liguori & Christian Napoli, 2021. "Knowledge and Lifestyle Behaviors Related to COVID-19 Pandemic in People over 65 Years Old from Southern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-11, October.
    3. Clariano Pires de Oliveira Neto & Rossana Santiago de Sousa Azulay & Ana Gregória Ferreira Pereira de Almeida & Maria da Glória Rodrigues Tavares & Luciana Helena Gama Vaz & Ianik Rafaela Lima Leal & , 2022. "Differences in Puberty of Girls before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-10, April.
    4. Patrick Wilms & Jan Schröder & Rüdiger Reer & Lorenz Scheit, 2022. "The Impact of “Home Office” Work on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-24, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Teresa Rubio-Tomás & Maria Skouroliakou & Dimitrios Ntountaniotis, 2022. "Lockdown Due to COVID-19 and Its Consequences on Diet, Physical Activity, Lifestyle, and Other Aspects of Daily Life Worldwide: A Narrative Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(11), pages 1-41, June.
    2. Margherita Micheletti Cremasco & Anna Mulasso & Alessia Moroni & Andrea Testa & Raffaella Degan & Alberto Rainoldi & Emanuela Rabaglietti, 2021. "Relation among Perceived Weight Change, Sedentary Activities and Sleep Quality during COVID-19 Lockdown: A Study in an Academic Community in Northern Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-14, March.
    3. Justin A. DeBlauw & Mary Stenson & Astrid Mel & Daniela German & Aaron Jaggernauth & Brian Lora & Noa Schabes & Raymani Walker & Farouq Yusuf & Stephen J. Ives, 2023. "The Impact of COVID-19 Health and Safety Measures on the Self-Reported Exercise Behaviors and Mental Health of College Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(24), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Anna Mulasso & Margherita Micheletti Cremasco & Simone Cuomo & Andrea Testa & Lynda Stella Lattke & Aurelia De Lorenzo & Alberto Rainoldi & Emanuela Rabaglietti, 2023. "“Stay at Home” during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in an Italian Academic Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-13, January.
    5. Luciana Zaccagni & Stefania Toselli & Davide Barbieri, 2021. "Physical Activity during COVID-19 Lockdown in Italy: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Coralie Dumoulin & Nathalie Havet & Jean-Yves Lesueur, 2022. "Analyzing the Difficulties of Continuing Physical Activity during the COVID-19 Crisis in France," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Rachel L. Knight & Melitta A. McNarry & Liba Sheeran & Adam W. Runacres & Rhys Thatcher & James Shelley & Kelly A. Mackintosh, 2021. "Moving Forward: Understanding Correlates of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour during COVID-19—An Integrative Review and Socioecological Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-19, October.
    8. Bik C. Chow & Peggy H. N. Choi & Wendy Y. J. Huang, 2018. "Physical Activity and Physical Fitness of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities in Group Homes in Hong Kong," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-11, June.
    9. Antonio Martinez-Millana & Henriette Michalsen & Valter Berg & Audny Anke & Santiago Gil Martinez & Miroslav Muzny & Juan Carlos Torrado Vidal & Javier Gomez & Vicente Traver & Letizia Jaccheri & Gunn, 2022. "Motivating Physical Activity for Individuals with Intellectual Disability through Indoor Bike Cycling and Exergaming," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Luis-Millán González & José Devís-Devís & Maite Pellicer-Chenoll & Miquel Pans & Alberto Pardo-Ibañez & Xavier García-Massó & Fernanda Peset & Fernanda Garzón-Farinós & Víctor Pérez-Samaniego, 2021. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Sport in Twitter: A Quantitative and Qualitative Content Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-20, April.
    11. Wei-Yang Huang & Cheng-En Wu, 2022. "Interventions to Improve Body Composition, Upper and Lower Extremity Muscle Strength, and Balance Ability of Older Female Adults: An Intervention Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-13, April.
    12. Jessica M. Yingst & Nicolle M. Krebs & Candace R. Bordner & Andrea L. Hobkirk & Sophia I. Allen & Jonathan Foulds, 2021. "Tobacco Use Changes and Perceived Health Risks among Current Tobacco Users during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-11, February.
    13. Matthew J. Savage & Philip J. Hennis & Daniele Magistro & James Donaldson & Laura C. Healy & Ruth M. James, 2021. "Nine Months into the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Longitudinal Study Showing Mental Health and Movement Behaviours Are Impaired in UK Students," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-10, March.
    14. Benedetta Barchielli & Clarissa Cricenti & Francesca Gallè & Elita Anna Sabella & Fabrizio Liguori & Giovanna Da Molin & Giorgio Liguori & Giovanni Battista Orsi & Anna Maria Giannini & Stefano Ferrac, 2022. "Climate Changes, Natural Resources Depletion, COVID-19 Pandemic, and Russian-Ukrainian War: What Is the Impact on Habits Change and Mental Health?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    15. Agnieszka Chwałczyńska & Waldemar Andrzejewski, 2021. "Changes in Body Mass and Composition of the Body as Well as Physical Activity and Time Spent in Front of the Monitor by Students of the Wroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences during the Perio," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-12, July.
    16. van de Weijer, Margot P. & de Vries, Lianne P. & Pelt, Dirk H.M. & Ligthart, Lannie & Willemsen, Gonneke & Boomsma, Dorret I. & de Geus, Eco & Bartels, Meike, 2022. "Self-rated health when population health is challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic; a longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    17. Luke Hanna & Con Burns & Cian O’Neill & Edward Coughlan, 2023. "A Systematic Review of the Implementation and Effectiveness of ‘The Daily Mile’ on Markers of Children’s Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(13), pages 1-28, June.
    18. Aurélie Goncalves & Sarah Le Vigouroux & Elodie Charbonnier, 2021. "University Students’ Lifestyle Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Four-Wave Longitudinal Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-9, August.
    19. Haleama Al Sabbah & Zainab Taha & Radwan Qasrawi & Enas A. Assaf & Leila Cheikh Ismail & Ayesha S. Al Dhaheri & Maha Hoteit & Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh & Reema Tayyem & Hiba Bawadi & Majid AlKhalaf & Khlood B, 2022. "The Impact of COVID-19 on Physical (In)Activity Behavior in 10 Arab Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-15, August.
    20. Dae-Jung Lee & Wi-Young So & Seung-Man Lee, 2021. "The Relationship between Korean Adolescents’ Sports Participation, Internal Health Locus of Control, and Wellness during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-13, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:5:p:2511-:d:509796. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.