Department of Epidemiology and Global Health, Umeå University, 901 87, Umeå, Sweden.
Int J Equity Health. 2023 Jan 30;22(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s12939-023-01835-4.
Physical activity is crucial for our wellbeing. Since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, physical activity behaviour has changed globally, and social inequalities that already exist in physical activity have increased. However, there is limited knowledge of how these inequalities have evolved in Sweden. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of physical activity, and the socioeconomic inequalities in physical activity before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This study analysed data from the national 'Health on Equal Terms' survey which was conducted on participants between 16 and 84, through a repeated cross-sectional design in 2018 (pre-pandemic) and 2021 (during the pandemic). The socioeconomic variables included gender, age, education, occupation, income, and place of birth. For both years, the prevalence of low physical activity, the absolute risk differences, the slope index of inequality, and the slope index difference for each of the variables were calculated.
The level of physical activity increased for the total population studied. However, the social inequalities that existed in 2018 increased over time and across age, education, occupation, income, and place of birth, but not with regard to gender.
Even though the Swedish population increased their levels of physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, the social inequalities that already existed in physical activity increased. Interventions to increase the level of physical activity among the young, people with low socioeconomic status, and those born outside Sweden are needed to reduce these social inequalities, and to improve the Swedish population's wellbeing.
身体活动对我们的健康至关重要。自 COVID-19 大流行出现以来，身体活动行为在全球范围内发生了变化，身体活动中已经存在的社会不平等现象加剧了。然而，对于这些不平等现象在瑞典是如何演变的，我们知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在评估 COVID-19 大流行前后身体活动的流行率以及身体活动方面的社会经济不平等现象。
本研究分析了全国“健康平等条件”调查的数据，该调查通过重复的横断面设计，于 2018 年（大流行前）和 2021 年（大流行期间）对 16 至 84 岁的参与者进行了研究。社会经济变量包括性别、年龄、教育、职业、收入和出生地。对于这两年，计算了低身体活动的流行率、绝对风险差异、不平等斜率指数和每个变量的斜率指数差异。
研究人群的身体活动水平有所提高。然而，2018 年存在的社会不平等现象随着时间的推移以及在年龄、教育、职业、收入和出生地等方面不断加剧，但性别方面则没有。
即使在 COVID-19 大流行期间，瑞典人口增加了身体活动水平，但身体活动中已经存在的社会不平等现象仍在加剧。需要采取干预措施来提高年轻人、社会经济地位较低的人群以及出生在瑞典以外的人群的身体活动水平，以减少这些社会不平等现象，并提高瑞典人口的健康水平。
