The Impact of Measures Recommended by the Government to Limit the Spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on Physical Activity Levels, Quality of Life, and Mental Health of Brazilians

Dihogo Gama de Matos, Felipe J. Aidar, Paulo Francisco de Almeida-Neto, Osvaldo Costa Moreira, Raphael Fabrício de Souza, Anderson Carlos Marçal, Lucas Soares Marcucci-Barbosa, Francisco de Assis Martins Júnior, Lazaro Fernandes Lobo, Jymmys Lopes dos Santos, Ialuska Guerra, Anselmo de Athayde Costa e Silva, Eduardo Borba Neves, Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinoco Cabral, Victor Machado Reis and Albená Nunes-Silva
Additional contact information
Dihogo Gama de Matos: Group of Studies and Research of Performance, Sport, Health and Paralympic Sports—GEPEPS, Federal University of Sergipe, UFS, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil
Felipe J. Aidar: Group of Studies and Research of Performance, Sport, Health and Paralympic Sports—GEPEPS, Federal University of Sergipe, UFS, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil
Paulo Francisco de Almeida-Neto: Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, Brazil
Osvaldo Costa Moreira: Institute of Biological Sciences and Health, Campus Florestal, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa 35690-000, Brazil
Raphael Fabrício de Souza: Group of Studies and Research of Performance, Sport, Health and Paralympic Sports—GEPEPS, Federal University of Sergipe, UFS, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil
Anderson Carlos Marçal: Group of Studies and Research of Performance, Sport, Health and Paralympic Sports—GEPEPS, Federal University of Sergipe, UFS, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil
Lucas Soares Marcucci-Barbosa: Laboratory of Inflammation and Exercise Immunology, Sports Center, Physical Education School, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), OuroPreto 35400-000, Brazil
Francisco de Assis Martins Júnior: Laboratory of Inflammation and Exercise Immunology, Sports Center, Physical Education School, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), OuroPreto 35400-000, Brazil
Lazaro Fernandes Lobo: Laboratory of Inflammation and Exercise Immunology, Sports Center, Physical Education School, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), OuroPreto 35400-000, Brazil
Jymmys Lopes dos Santos: Group of Studies and Research of Performance, Sport, Health and Paralympic Sports—GEPEPS, Federal University of Sergipe, UFS, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil
Ialuska Guerra: Group of Studies and Research of Performance, Sport, Health and Paralympic Sports—GEPEPS, Federal University of Sergipe, UFS, Sergipe 49100-000, Brazil
Anselmo de Athayde Costa e Silva: Graduate Program in in Physical Education, Pará Federal University, Belém, Pará 66075-110, Brazil
Eduardo Borba Neves: Brazilian Army Research Institute of Physical Fitness (IPCFEx), Rio de Janeiro 22291-090, Brazil
Breno Guilherme de Araújo Tinoco Cabral: Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal 59078-970, Brazil
Victor Machado Reis: Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), Trásos Montes and Alto Douro University, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Albená Nunes-Silva: Laboratory of Inflammation and Exercise Immunology, Sports Center, Physical Education School, Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP), OuroPreto 35400-000, Brazil

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-13

Abstract: To reduce transmission of the coronavirus, the Brazilian government adopted containment measures to control the virus’ spread, including limitations to the practice of physical activity. It was aimed to analyze the effects of COVID-19 quarantine on physical activity levels, energy expenditure, quality of life, and level of stress in a sample of the Brazilian population. The sample included 426 participants (7 to 80 years). The International Physical Activity Questionnaire, Short form survey-36 (SF-36), and Stress Perception Scale, were used to assess the level of physical activity, quality of life and stress, respectively. The anthropometric data was used to the assessment of body mass index and basal metabolic rate. Body weight increased significantly in all sample ( p < 0.05). During the pandemic, 84% of the sample indicated a low level of physical activity. Furthermore, weekly energy expenditure decreased significantly in all age groups during the pandemic (children p < 0.0001; adolescents: p < 0.0001; adults p < 0.001, and elderly p < 0.0001). All aspects of quality of life, significantly reduced in both sexes in all age groups ( p < 0.05). With the exception of children, stress levels increased significantly during the pandemic (adolescents: male: p = 0.003, female: p < 0.05; adults: male: p = 0.003, female: p = 0.01, and elderly: male: p = 0.02, female: p = 0.03). Findings from the present study suggests that COVID-19 social isolation has negatively affected Brazilian’ physical activity and quality of life.

Keywords: COVID-19; physical activity; quality of life; stress; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9072/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/21/9072/ (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:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:21:p:9072-:d:438282

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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