Dourado Victor Zuniga, Morais Pereira Simões Maria do Socorro, Lauria Vinícius Tonon, Gulayin Pablo, Gutierrez Laura, Peña-Silva Ricardo, Pereyra-González Isabel, Ortiz Alfonsina, Lopez-Arana Sandra, Widyahening Indah Suci, Al-Shaar Laila, Danaei Goodarz, Poggio Rosana
Department of Human Movement Sciences, Federal University of São Paulo (UNIFESP), Santos, São Paulo, Brazil.
Lown Scholars in the Bernard Lown Scholars in Cardiovascular Health Program at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Arch Public Health. 2025 Aug 4;83(1):203. doi: 10.1186/s13690-025-01664-7.
Restriction measures during the COVID-19 pandemic may have reduced opportunities to engage in physical activity. This study explored the changes in self-reported physical activity level (PAL), risk factors, and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF) among south American adults by comparing data reflecting the pre-pandemic period to data collected during the survey.
We conducted a cross-sectional online survey between July 2021 through March 2022 using validated questionnaires (e.g., GPAQ and WHO-STEPS) on a convenience sample of 1,934 adults (68.7% women) from Argentina (n = 484), Brazil (n = 405), Chile (n = 279), Colombia (n = 343) and Uruguay (n = 423). We compared self-reported PAL, risk factors, and eCRF before the pandemic period and at the time of the survey (mean 842 days from the first reported case in each country). Data were presented as medians (interquartile range [IQR]) or means (95% confidence interval [CI]) for continuous variables and percentages for categorical ones. Paired data analyses were conducted using paired t-tests, Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, and McNamar's tests, as applicable.
We observed a decrease in PAL at work (median, 0 METs/min/week and interquartile range, [0-240] vs. 0 METs/min/week [0-30]; p = 0.032) and active transportation domains (0 METs/min/week [0-693] vs. 0 METs/min/week [0-594]; p = 0.008). In addition, the median sedentary time on weekdays increased by 60 min/day (360 [240-540] vs 420 [240-600]; p < 0.001). We also observed an increase in the proportion of participants with hypertension (12.9 vs. 16.5%), diabetes (6.8 vs. 9.8%), dyslipidemia (18.9 to 24%), depression symptoms (14.4 to 15.4%) and obesity (15.4 to 18.2%) compared with pre-pandemic levels (all p-values < 0.05). The eCRF was significantly lower at the survey time compared with pre-pandemic levels (mean difference, -1.17 mL/min/kg (or 3.34%): 95% CI, -1.03 to -1.30) even after adjusting for age (-0.50 mL/min/kg (or 1.45%): 95% CI -0.37 to -0.64).
Across five countries in South America, social restriction policies to control the COVID-19 pandemic may have reduced physical activity and estimated cardiorespiratory fitness with no recovery until the survey time.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间的限制措施可能减少了人们进行体育活动的机会。本研究通过比较反映疫情前时期的数据与调查期间收集的数据，探讨了南美成年人自我报告的身体活动水平（PAL）、风险因素和估计的心肺适能（eCRF）的变化。
我们在2021年7月至2022年3月期间进行了一项横断面在线调查，使用经过验证的问卷（如全球身体活动问卷和世界卫生组织-全球健康与行为危险因素监测问卷），对来自阿根廷（n = 484）、巴西（n = 405）、智利（n = 279）、哥伦比亚（n = 343）和乌拉圭（n = 423）的1934名成年人（68.7%为女性）的便利样本进行了调查。我们比较了疫情前时期和调查时（每个国家首次报告病例后平均842天）自我报告的PAL、风险因素和eCRF。连续变量的数据以中位数（四分位间距[IQR]）或均值（95%置信区间[CI]）表示，分类变量的数据以百分比表示。适用时，使用配对t检验、Wilcoxon符号秩检验和McNamar检验进行配对数据分析。
我们观察到工作时的PAL下降（中位数，0梅脱/分钟/周，四分位间距，[0 - 240]对比0梅脱/分钟/周[0 - 30]；p = 0.032）以及主动出行领域的PAL下降（0梅脱/分钟/周[0 - 693]对比0梅脱/分钟/周[0 - 594]；p = 0.008）。此外，工作日久坐时间的中位数增加了60分钟/天（360[240 - 540]对比420[240 - 600]；p < 0.001）。我们还观察到，与疫情前水平相比，高血压患者（12.9%对比16.5%）、糖尿病患者（6.8%对比9.8%）、血脂异常患者（18.9%至24%）、有抑郁症状者（14.4%至15.4%）和肥胖者（15.4%至18.2%）的比例有所增加（所有p值 < 0.05）。即使在调整年龄后，调查时的eCRF仍显著低于疫情前水平（平均差异，-1.17毫升/分钟/千克（或3.34%）：95%CI，-1.03至-1.30）（-0.50毫升/分钟/千克（或1.45%）：95%CI -0.37至-0.64）。
在南美的五个国家中，控制COVID-19大流行的社会限制政策可能减少了身体活动和估计的心肺适能，直到调查时仍未恢复。
