Elderly population has been severely affected by the social distancing measures undertaken to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Studies in this systematic review revealed significant decreases in physical activity levels in elderly people worldwide.
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Strategies to maintain physical condition of the elderly people during social distancing scenarios are imperative.
Abstract
Introduction
Social isolation and lifestyle changes provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively affected the level of physical activity of the elderly people.
Objective
To evaluate the available evidence related to the level of physical activity (PA) of elderly people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
This is a systematic review, registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021241116), which included cross-sectional and cohort studies. Embase, Pubmed, Cochrane, Web of Science and Scopus databases were used to search for the studies. Finally, the New Castle-Ottawa Quality Assessment scale was used to measure the quality of the studies.
Results
25 studies were found, being 14 cross-sectional and 11 cohort studies. The studies showed that the elderly population was highly affected in relation to the level of physical activity and lifestyle during restrictions, quarantine and lockdowns caused by the COVID-19. There was a significant reduction in physical activity levels, leading to declines in physical fitness and increased sedentary lifestyle, factors directly related to the increase in frailty in this population.
Conclusion
The level of physical activity in the elderly population decreased during the quarantine period of COVID-19 worldwide. Strategies to maintain physical condition must be encouraged with physical exercises that meets the needs of the elderly in the current pandemic scenario, in order to maintain and improve the health of this population.
