Physical Activity level in doctors during Covid-19: An Online-based Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Physical activity is an important therapeutic strategy in reducing the severity of Covid-19 disease. There is a lack of studies evaluating the level of physical activity among doctors who are the frontline responders of Covid-19 pandemic. The online survey aimed at evaluating the effect factors associated with physical activity levels of doctors during Covid-19 pandemic using International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ- SF). The survey included doctors from government and private health sectors of India. Snowballing technique was used to conduct the survey. About 266 Indian doctors with a median age of 36 (IQR = 31, 46) years responded to the anonymous survey consisting of demographic details and IPAQ- SF. Median MET-minutes/week and Inter Quartile Range (IQR) were used to describe the physical activity levels of the doctors. All the data analysis was done in STATA 12.1.  The total median MET-duration of doctors was 834 (IQR = 495, 1620) MET-minutes/week with 988 (IQR = 564.3, 2067.9) Kcal/week of total energy expenditure. Low, moderate and high physical activity levels of doctors were 21.4%, 54.5% and 24.1% respectively. Age, gender, doing Covid-19 duties and regular involvement in physical activity before the pandemic have significantly affected PA levels. More than 55% of doctors who reported high or moderate physical activity before the pandemic were doing significantly low physical activity during the pandemic (p < 0.0001). The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly affected the physical activity level in doctors. Doctors aged 31- 40 years performing Covid-19 duties during the conduct of the survey were likely to perform low physical activity. However, those doctors who regularly engaged in physical activity before the pandemic despite the restrictions were found to engage significantly in higher total MET-duration and expended higher energy.