Level Of Physical Activity, States Of Change And Adherence, In Two Physical Activity Programs Face-to-face And Virtual 2019-2020

Abstract

PORPUSE: Identify differences and similarities related to adherence, level of physical activity and behavioral states between two a face-to-face vs. virtual modality program developed in 2019 and 2020, before and during the pandemic. METHOD: observational study that compares 2 intervention groups in the periods of 2019 and 2020. As it was a natural experiment, the information was provided by the entity in charge of offering the program, who recorded adherence to the program through percentages of attendance, and the level of physical activity and stages of change with the BESS MARCUS test. The data analysis was carried out with R program RESULTS: the adherence results show that no user is fully adhered to the activities, the partially adhered people are 1.88% in 2019 and 3.73% in 2020, those who were partially adhered were regular active persons under 6 months, in a state of behavior in action. Although, no differences were found when comparing the interventions in 2019 and 2020 (p-value = 0.322), the level of physical activity and state of behavior in 2019 of n = 1,785 users who responded to the survey, 40% are in a level of habitual active physical activity and state of maintenance behavior; However, it is observed that the sum of inactive people in a state of pre-contemplative and contemplative behavior adds up to 34%. In 2020, within the framework of the pandemic, of n = 1,523 users who responded to the survey, 39% found themselves in an inactive level of physical activity and contemplative behavior, and an increase of 5% is observed compared to as of 2019 of the percentage of inactive people. The results related to the levels of physical activity in men and women did not show differences. There are no differences in adherence between the activities of 2019 and 2020 in the Fisher´s test (p-value = 1.00). CONCLUSIONS: The face-to-face and virtual activities do not generate differences and are equally valid when promoting physical activity.