Real-life physical activity in community-dwelling older adults over a year with changes in COVID-19 restrictions in Norway

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns have reduced physical activity (PA) among home-dwelling older adults. The main aim of this study was to investigate how real-life PA in home-dwelling older adults changed over a year with gradual eases in COVID-19 restrictions. Methods: Community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years) were recruited from local exercise groups aimed at preventing functional decline and falls. All participants had been involved in the exercise groups before the pandemic but had been without the offer for 6 months prior to inclusion because of COVID-19 restrictions. Sensor-based PA was measured using Axivity accelerometers worn on the lower back and right thigh for seven consecutive days at baseline (autumn 2020), 6 (spring 2021) and 12 (autumn 2021) months. PA activities were classified using the HAR70+ machine learning model, validated on older adults. Results: Ninety-one older adults (78 ± 6.4 years, 88% female) were included. At baseline, 9% used walking aids and 26.5% reported a fall in the previous year. Daily time spent upright did not change, while time spent walking decreased by 8.19 minutes from baseline to 12 months (p<0.048). Walking bouts of >10 minutes decreased with 0.5 bouts per day (p<0.001), and the longest walking bout showed a non-significant decrease of 17.7 minutes (p=0.056). This shows a change toward a more sedentary activity pattern over the year despite a gradual ease of the restrictions. Conclusion: In a relatively well functioning group of older adults, physical activity did not increase with gradual ease in COVID-19 restrictions.