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Physical activity and diet in a global pandemic: an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on factors relevant for musculoskeletal health at two different stages of the lifecourse

Physical activity and diet in a global pandemic: an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on factors relevant for musculoskeletal health at two different stages of the lifecourse
Physical activity and diet in a global pandemic: an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on factors relevant for musculoskeletal health at two different stages of the lifecourse
Background: physical activity, nutrition and other lifestyle factors play important roles in maintaining musculoskeletal health. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) originated in late 2019, spread globally to be declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation in March 2020, and led to widespread behaviour change. The aim of this study was to use two existing cohorts, the Hertfordshire Cohort Study (HCS) and Health and Employment After Fifty Study (HEAF), to understand how wave one of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted lifestyle factors associated with musculoskeletal health in the UK.

Methods: 125 eligible participants, 65 males and 60 females (drawn from the HCS study, median (IQR) age 84.3 (82.4-86.6) years, all Caucasian, and community dwelling) were contacted by telephone and asked to complete a questionnaire administered by a trained researcher. Data collection occurred over the period July 2020 to February 2021. 2469 participants, 1086 men and 1383 women (drawn from the HEAF study, median age 65.7 (62.0-69.3) years, mostly Caucasian and community dwelling) completed an online questionnaire in March 2021.

Results: in HCS, 47% respondents reported being less physically active than before the pandemic (and only 5% more so), 27% said they consumed less alcohol compared to pre-pandemic times (and only 3% more so), and 18% reported eating less than before, although quality of diet was generally unchanged over this timeframe surveyed. In HEAF, 44% participants said they were less active than before the pandemic, while 17% reported being more active. The majority of participants reported no changes in alcohol consumption and diet; however, 19% said they drank more than before (32% of which was above recommended levels), 16% said their diet was less healthy, and 19% reported eating more than before.

Conclusion: we have reported the experience of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among participants of two Caucasian community dwelling UK cohorts, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on lifestyle factors associated with musculoskeletal health. Changed physical activity levels were reported in a high proportion of respondents in both studies; an investigation of reversibility of these changes is required.
COVID-19, diet, musculoskeletal health, older adults, physical activity
1664-2392
Bevilacqua, Gregorio
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D'angelo, Stefania
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Linaker, Catherine
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Paul, Alice
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Bloom, Ilse
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Zhang, Jean
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Laskou, Faidra
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Cooper, Cyrus
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Ward, Kate
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Walker-Bone, Karen
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Dennison, Elaine
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Bevilacqua, Gregorio
e93e3b18-7d1e-4da5-9fcd-e6b4637e1c2e
D'angelo, Stefania
13375ecd-1117-4b6e-99c0-32239f52eed6
Linaker, Catherine
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Paul, Alice
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Bloom, Ilse
af2a38ab-3255-414d-afa1-e3089ee45e3f
Zhang, Jean
437abe90-46ac-46de-8183-042c36ed3398
Laskou, Faidra
3959d6e2-ccfa-4d97-8311-16f27b893365
Cooper, Cyrus
e05f5612-b493-4273-9b71-9e0ce32bdad6
Ward, Kate
39bd4db1-c948-4e32-930e-7bec8deb54c7
Walker-Bone, Karen
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Dennison, Elaine
ee647287-edb4-4392-8361-e59fd505b1d1

Bevilacqua, Gregorio, D'angelo, Stefania, Linaker, Catherine, Paul, Alice, Bloom, Ilse, Zhang, Jean, Laskou, Faidra, Cooper, Cyrus, Ward, Kate, Walker-Bone, Karen and Dennison, Elaine (2022) Physical activity and diet in a global pandemic: an investigation of the impact of COVID-19 on factors relevant for musculoskeletal health at two different stages of the lifecourse. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 13, [882399]. (doi:10.3389/fendo.2022.882399).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: physical activity, nutrition and other lifestyle factors play important roles in maintaining musculoskeletal health. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) originated in late 2019, spread globally to be declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation in March 2020, and led to widespread behaviour change. The aim of this study was to use two existing cohorts, the Hertfordshire Cohort Study (HCS) and Health and Employment After Fifty Study (HEAF), to understand how wave one of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted lifestyle factors associated with musculoskeletal health in the UK.

Methods: 125 eligible participants, 65 males and 60 females (drawn from the HCS study, median (IQR) age 84.3 (82.4-86.6) years, all Caucasian, and community dwelling) were contacted by telephone and asked to complete a questionnaire administered by a trained researcher. Data collection occurred over the period July 2020 to February 2021. 2469 participants, 1086 men and 1383 women (drawn from the HEAF study, median age 65.7 (62.0-69.3) years, mostly Caucasian and community dwelling) completed an online questionnaire in March 2021.

Results: in HCS, 47% respondents reported being less physically active than before the pandemic (and only 5% more so), 27% said they consumed less alcohol compared to pre-pandemic times (and only 3% more so), and 18% reported eating less than before, although quality of diet was generally unchanged over this timeframe surveyed. In HEAF, 44% participants said they were less active than before the pandemic, while 17% reported being more active. The majority of participants reported no changes in alcohol consumption and diet; however, 19% said they drank more than before (32% of which was above recommended levels), 16% said their diet was less healthy, and 19% reported eating more than before.

Conclusion: we have reported the experience of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic among participants of two Caucasian community dwelling UK cohorts, highlighting the impact of the pandemic on lifestyle factors associated with musculoskeletal health. Changed physical activity levels were reported in a high proportion of respondents in both studies; an investigation of reversibility of these changes is required.

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Accepted/In Press date: 28 March 2022
Published date: 3 May 2022
Additional Information: Funding Information: This work was funded by the Medical Research Council programme grant (MC_PC_21001 and MC_UU_12011/5) and the Economic and Social Research Council and Medical Research Council jointly Lifelong Health & Wellbeing grants (ES/L002663/1). IB and JZ are supported by the NIHR Southampton BRC, CL is funded by the MRC Versus Arthritis Centre for Musculoskeletal Health and Work (Ref. 22090). The funding bodies played no role in the design of the study or collection, analysis and interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Bevilacqua, D’Angelo, Linaker, Paul, Bloom, Zhang, Laskou, Cooper, Ward, Walker-Bone and Dennison.
Keywords: COVID-19, diet, musculoskeletal health, older adults, physical activity

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 457734
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/457734
ISSN: 1664-2392
PURE UUID: 8a3a6c4e-e6f5-4f09-91f6-a1b12cfedbbb
ORCID for Gregorio Bevilacqua: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7819-1482
ORCID for Stefania D'angelo: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7267-1837
ORCID for Catherine Linaker: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1091-9283
ORCID for Ilse Bloom: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-4893-1790
ORCID for Faidra Laskou: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-8481-6343
ORCID for Cyrus Cooper: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3510-0709
ORCID for Kate Ward: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7034-6750
ORCID for Karen Walker-Bone: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5992-1459
ORCID for Elaine Dennison: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3048-4961

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 16 Jun 2022 00:28
Last modified: 30 Nov 2024 02:51

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Contributors

Author: Gregorio Bevilacqua ORCID iD
Author: Stefania D'angelo ORCID iD
Author: Alice Paul
Author: Ilse Bloom ORCID iD
Author: Jean Zhang
Author: Faidra Laskou ORCID iD
Author: Cyrus Cooper ORCID iD
Author: Kate Ward ORCID iD
Author: Elaine Dennison ORCID iD

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