Physical Activity and Perceived Health in People With Parkinson Disease During the First Wave of Covid-19 Pandemic: A Cross-sectional Study From Sweden

Abstract

Background: People with Parkinson disease (PD) are known to be at risk of physical inactivity and may therefore be especially vulnerable to negative health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic due to social distancing recommendations. Purpose: To investigate sensor-derived physical activity and perceived health of people with PD during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the factors associated with these outcomes. Methods: Physical activity was measured over 7 days using the Actigraph GT3x accelerometer. Data were collected regarding perceived health status and physical activity habits, as well as rehabilitation attendance during the pandemic. Multiple linear and logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with physical activity and perceived changes in health. Results: Of 89 participants, a majority (67%) reported a pandemicrelated reduction in exercise habits. Women more commonly reported a reduction in scheduled exercise and cancelled rehabilitation than men. Study participants took on average 5876 ± 3180 steps per day. In the multivariate analysis, female gender, being 70 years of age and older, and greater reported mobility problems were associated with being less physically active. A pandemic-induced deterioration in health was reported by 42% and women were 5 times more likely than men to do so (odds ratio: 5.12, 95% confidence interval, 1.87-15.03; P = 0.002). Discussion and Conclusions: Despite a pandemic-related reduction in reported exercise habits and rehabilitation, the participants in this

Objective Measurement of Walking Activity Using Wearable Technologies in People with Parkinson Disease: A Systematic Review

“…The objective of the 26 studies ranged from observational (n = 18, 69.2%) [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36] to interventional studies (n = 6, 23.1%) [37][38][39][40][41][42] including pre-and post-measurements or the comparison of walking activity parameters with a control group. Two studies can be considered as proof of concept [28,43].…”

“…The most frequently used wearable device was the AGT3X [19][20][21][22][23][36][37][38][39][40] used in 10 studies (38.5%). StepWatch Activity Monitors (SAM) were used in seven studies (26.9%): the StepWatch (n = 3, 11.5%) [24,25,43], the StepWatch 3 (n = 3, 11.5%) [26,27,41], and the StepWatch 4 (n = 1, 3.8%) [28].…”

“…Figure 4 illustrates proportion of sensors. The most commonly used sensors were triaxial accelerometers (n = 16, 61.5%) [19][20][21][22][23][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]42], followed by microprocessor linked devices which were used in seven studies (26.9%) [24][25][26][27][28]41,43]. Furthermore, two (7.7%) studies conducted assessments with uniaxial accelerometers [29,30].…”

Relationship between COVID‐19 and movement disorders: A narrative review

“…PD patients reported negative effects on their motor status, mental health with increased stress and depression [70], and physical activity compared with their prelockdown state [71,72]. Access to PD medication was globally affected by the pandemic due to slowed delivery systems, or, in some settings, limited access to dispensaries based on an International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS)-wide survey [73].…”

SARS-CoV-2 and neurodegenerative diseases: what we know and what we don’t

“…This is in line with cross-sectional data from more than 5000 patients with PD that revealed worsening of motor (43%) and especially non-motor (52%) symptoms since pandemic onset (Brown et al 2020 ). Home confinement and other disease control measures aiming at reduction of contacts are likely to contribute to a diminished physical activity in PD patients (Leavy et al 2021 ) and foster the discontinuation of medical treatments, such as multimodal complex treatment or levodopa/carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) set-ups (Richter et al 2021 ; Wolff et al 2022 ). Disruptions were furthermore observed to impact clinical trials, due to difficulties in recruitment, initiation and monitoring (Lorusso et al 2020 ) which will impact the development of future therapeutic options.…”