The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical Activity and Social Isolation among Adults with Physical Disabilities Living in Canada and The Netherlands

Kim Meijer, Trynke Hoekstra, Pim Brandenbarg, Disability Survey Group Covid-19, ReSpAct 2.0 Group and Femke Hoekstra ()
Additional contact information
Kim Meijer: Department of Health Sciences and Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Trynke Hoekstra: Department of Health Sciences and Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Pim Brandenbarg: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands
Disability Survey Group Covid-19: Membership of the Group is provided in the Acknowledgments.
ReSpAct 2.0 Group: Membership of the Group is provided in the Acknowledgments.
Femke Hoekstra: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands

Disabilities, 2022, vol. 2, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among people with physical disabilities might differ between countries due to differences in implemented measures and infection rates. This study aimed to understand the impact of the pandemic on physical activity (PA) and social isolation among adults with physical disabilities in Canada and the Netherlands, and examine associations between PA and social isolation. Methods: Secondary data from two studies were used: the Canadian COVID-19 Disability Survey (n = 353) and the Dutch Rehabilitation, Sports and Active lifestyle (ReSpAct) 2.0 study (n = 445). Self-reported PA was measured using IPAQ-SF and Adapted-SQUASH. Social isolation was measured using the PROMIS Social Isolation. Descriptive and regression analyses were performed. Results: Canadian participants spent on average 163 min (Median = 0; IQR = 120) on moderate-to-vigorous PA per week and Dutch participants 934 min (Median = 600; IQR = 1125). In Canada, 64% reported to have become less physically active since the pandemic compared to 37% of Dutch participants. In both samples, no clinically relevant associations were found between PA and social isolation. Conclusions: The findings emphasize the negative impact of the pandemic on PA and social isolation in adults with physical disabilities in Canada and the Netherlands. Future research is needed to better understand if and how PA can be used to reduce social isolation in people with disabilities. This study illustrates how cross-country collaborations and exchange provide opportunities to inspire and learn from initiatives and programs in other countries and may help to improve PA support among people with disabilities during and after the pandemic.

Keywords: physical activity; social isolation; COVID-19 pandemic; physical disability; rehabilitation; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/2/4/54/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-7272/2/4/54/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jdisab:v:2:y:2022:i:4:p:54-794:d:1003403

Access Statistics for this article

Disabilities is currently edited by Ms. Cici Zhou

More articles in Disabilities from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().