Impact of physical activity on disease progression in patients with COVID-19 managed on an outpatient basis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35366/111119Keywords:
COVID-19, physical activity, obesity, six minutes walking test, rehabilitationAbstract
Introduction: the metabolic imbalance produced by SARS-CoV-2 is exacerbated by low levels of
physical activity (PA), resulting on obesity, hypertension, and the requirement for the use of drugs that
stimulates the expression of ECA2. Few studies have examined the PA profile of COVID-19 positive
ambulatory individuals prior to infection and how it relates with sociodemographic and clinical factors.
Objective: investigate the association between the clinical profile, physical performance, and level of
PA in SARS-CoV-2 infected patients treated at the INR-LGII from July 2020 to January 2021. Material
and methods: an observational, analytical, and cross-sectional study was conducted. IPAQ was used
to characterize the level of PA, the dominant hand’s manual pressing force was determined, and the
6MWT was used to assess physical performance. Results: the mean age of the 850 subjects was
41.4 ± 14.85. In the 41.9%, obesity and hypertension were present. The majority (57.8%) have low
levels of PA. High levels of PA in the subjects produced better results in the 6MWT and handgrip (p =
0.005, p = 0.039). The level of PA was low in both sexes (p = 0.008). In contrast to subjects with low
PA, which had severe forms of the illness, subjects with high APA presented less severe symptoms.
Conclusion: high PA levels are associated with better functional outcomes during SARS-CoV-2
infection. There is an approach that aims to reduce the number of fatalities caused by COVID-19 by
using the PA as the first line of defense against metabolic disturbances that have a negative impact
on the severity of the illness.
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