The detrimental effect of COVID‐19 nationwide quarantine on accelerometer‐assessed physical activity of heart failure patients

Abstract

Aims A reduction of habitual physical activity due to prolonged COVID-19 quarantine can have serious consequences for patients with cardiovascular diseases, such as heart failure. This study aimed to explore the effect of COVID-19 nationwide quarantine on accelerometer-assessed physical activity of heart failure patients. Methods and results We analysed the daily number of steps in 26 heart failure patients during a 6-week period that included 3 weeks immediately preceding the onset of the quarantine and the first 3 weeks of the quarantine. The daily number of steps was assessed using a wrist-worn accelerometer worn by the patients as part of an ongoing randomized controlled trial. Multilevel modelling was used to explore the effect of the quarantine on the daily step count adjusted for weather conditions. As compared with the 3 weeks before the onset of the quarantine, the step count was significantly lower during each of the first 3 weeks of the quarantine (P < 0.05). When the daily step count was averaged across the 3 weeks before and during the quarantine, the decrease amounted to 1134 (SE 189) steps per day (P < 0.001), which translated to a 16.2% decrease. Conclusions The introduction of the nationwide quarantine due to COVID-19 had a detrimental effect on the level of habitual physical activity in heart failure patients, leading to an abrupt decrease of daily step count that lasted for at least the 3-week study period. Staying active and maintaining sufficient levels of physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic are essential despite the unfavourable circumstances of quarantine.

The impact of social restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical activity levels of older adults: a baseline analysis of the CHARIOT COVID-19 Rapid Response prospective cohort study

“…This was accompanied by an increase in sitting time by 276 minutes per week, an adverse finding given the adverse health impacts associated with increased sedentary and sitting time. 20 These findings correlate with other studies from the UK (a decrease in 25% of adults aged over 20 years following lockdown), 21 Spain 22 and China, 23 and from a global survey collected in 8 different languages, 24 despite the differences in outdoor exercise permissions between countries. Reductions in PA may impact disproportionately across society.…”

Changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: a systematic review

“…Thirteen studies examined populations with medical conditions for which all but one study, 80 used subjective measurements of PA change, and in only 6/12 were these previously validated measurement tools. Regarding the types of changes reported, nine studies 23 26 36 40 43 44 72 80 86 reported changes in time spent in PA, all reporting decreases in PA time.…”

No Evidence for a Decrease in Physical Activity Among Swiss Office Workers During COVID-19: A Longitudinal Study

“…This reduction in physical activity could be explained by the fact that moderately or highly physically active participants usually performed their exercises in training groups, fitness centers, and sports clubs, that were temporarily closed during the lockdown ( Constandt et al, 2020 ). Further reasons could be less time, the lack of a competitive element in the training or being at risk for developing COVID-19 ( Constandt et al, 2020 ; Di Stefano et al, 2020 ; Ruiz-Roso et al, 2020 ; Vetrovsky et al, 2020 ). Interestingly, 33% of inactive participants were reported to be more active during the lockdown in Canada ( Lesser and Nienhuis, 2020 ), while this was the case for as many as 55% ( n = 12 out of 22) in our study on Swiss office workers.…”

“…A Belgian study came to a similar conclusion and showed that physically active adults, who normally exercised in a group setting and did not use online training tools during social distancing, were less active than before ( Constandt et al, 2020 ). The same applied to many patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, heart failure, cystic fibrosis, or neuromuscular diseases, who experienced increasing physical inactivity during home confinement ( Di Stefano et al, 2020 ; Radtke et al, 2020 ; Ruiz-Roso et al, 2020 ; Vetrovsky et al, 2020 ). Two large surveys also showed that the lockdown had a negative effect on physical activity levels ( Ammar et al, 2020 ; Qin et al, 2020 ).…”