Exercise Habits of Armenians Before and After the Emergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a variety of changes in people’s lifestyles, including their exercise habits. This study examined changes in exercise habits in individuals of Armenian descent, before and after the emergence of COVID-19, to determine whether significant changes had occurred. Convenience sampling was used by distributing the study throughout Armenian organizations, culturally-relevant social media pages, websites, and email lists. Subjects were required to be at least 18 years of age and of Armenian descent. Survey data was collected between June and August of 2020 from 502 subjects on exercise history, health history, and anthropometry. Disease scores were assigned based on health status. Subjects with higher disease scores were 2.5 and 3.1 times more likely to not exercise prior to and after the pandemic, respectively, compared to subjects with lower disease scores (p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference in change in exercise frequency after the emergence of the pandemic. Additionally, subjects who only exercised in the gym prior to COVID-19 were more likely to decrease their exercise frequency compared to subjects who did not exercise at the gym or did not solely exercise at the gym (p<0.001). Clinicians should place greater emphasis on encouraging Armenian patients with high disease scores to exercise. Armenian patients should also be encouraged to diversify their exercise spaces beyond the gym in order to reduce the risk of decreasing exercise frequency in the event of gym closures due to unforeseen circumstances.