Determining Factors Affecting of the Physical Activity Level of Older Adults During The Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Introduction: Social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic has had negative physical and psychological consequences for the elderly. We, therefore, aimed to determine the most factors affecting the physical activity of the older adults living in Turkey. Materials and method: A structured Google survey including demographics, frailty level (Frail Scale), depressive symptoms (Geriatric Depression Scale [GDS]), physical activity level (PASE Questionnaire), kinesiophobia (TAMPA Scale), and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Scale) of older adults was used to collect data. The determine factors affecting physical activity level, multiple regression analysis was calculated. Results: Of the participants (28% male; 72% female; mean age: 69.34±15.03 years), while 52% stated that they were less physically active, 93% indicated that their social participation had decreased during the pandemic. The mean physical activity score was 89.12±55.33, with the highest score for household activities (32.00±21.34) and the lowest for work-related activities (2.10±6.33). Kinesiophobia scores were increased (mean: 41.44±7.39). About half of the participants were in the category “warrants a comprehensive assessment for depression” while 18% were in the “suggestive of depression” category and 30% in the “no depression” category (GDS’s mean score, 14.41±6.01). Additionally, 29% had severe anxiety, 25% had moderate anxiety, 24% had mild anxiety, and 22% had no anxiety, respectively. The mean frailty score was 2.09±1.69 (distribution: normal, 19%; prefrail, 53%; frail, 28%). According to the univariate linear regression analysis and multiple regression analysis, the most factors affecting physical activity level were found to be age, BMI score, kinesiophobia, and frailty. Conclusion: The results obtained from this study showed that older adults’ physical activity level decreased in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, increased kinesiophobia and increased frailty lead to decreased physical activity level among older adults. These findings recommend to health policy makers and health care providers to make suitable plan of care for older adults.