Almasri Diena, Noor Ahmad, Diri Reem
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
J Microsc Ultrastruct. 2020 Dec 10;8(4):165-167. doi: 10.4103/JMAU.JMAU_64_20. eCollection 2020 Oct-Dec.
On the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown clearance in Saudi Arabia, the high-profile precautions were applied as a major step to resume the normal life activities and to coexist with the pandemic. One of those resumed activities is the reopening of the gym and fitness centers. The perception and the commitment with safe precautions in terms of personal hygiene and sterilization have dramatically changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to assess the behavior of gym attendees toward preventive precautions prior to the pandemic and the behavioral changes that will be accommodated after the new policy and procedure of attending a gym and fitness centers.
A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in February 2020, a 1 month prior to the complete lockdown announcement in Saudi Arabia as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. An electronic questionnaire was provided during a personal interview with gym and fitness centers' participants.
The majority of participants never use sterile wipes or any sterile product before or after using gym equipment (61.6%), and 35.4% of gym attendants do not use any sterilization materials distributed through fitness centers. In addition, most of the participants have had an episode of skin infections or respiratory infection at the fitness center for the past 12 months (22.2%), whereas 80.8% do not know about tinea microbial that causes athlete's foot, and 65.7% of them utilize the shower in the gym after their workout.
The lack of awareness of previous and new gym members regarding safety precautions during indoor exercise should be overcome by more future educational intervention and emphasizing on following the Ministry of Sports in Saudi Arabia, even after the complete clearance of COVID-19 pandemic.
在沙特阿拉伯宣布新冠疫情封锁解除后，采取了备受瞩目的预防措施，这是恢复正常生活活动并与疫情共存的重要一步。其中一项恢复的活动是健身房和健身中心的重新开放。由于新冠疫情，人们对个人卫生和消毒方面安全预防措施的认知和遵守情况发生了巨大变化。本研究的目的是评估健身房参与者在疫情前对预防措施的行为，以及在新的健身房和健身中心政策与程序实施后他们将做出的行为改变。
2020年2月，在沙特阿拉伯因新冠疫情爆发宣布全面封锁前1个月进行了一项横断面描述性研究。在对健身房和健身中心参与者进行个人访谈时提供了一份电子问卷。
大多数参与者在使用健身房设备前后从未使用过消毒湿巾或任何消毒产品（61.6%），35.4%的健身房参与者不使用健身中心提供的任何消毒材料。此外，在过去12个月里，大多数参与者在健身中心有过皮肤感染或呼吸道感染（22.2%），而80.8%的人不知道导致足癣的癣菌微生物，65.7%的人在锻炼后使用健身房的淋浴。
即使在新冠疫情完全解除后，未来也应通过更多的教育干预并强调遵循沙特阿拉伯体育部的规定，来克服新老健身房会员对室内运动安全预防措施缺乏认识的问题。
