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Published on: March 7, 2019
The Influence of Physical Activity on COVID-19 Prevention Among Quarantined Individuals: A Case-Control Study
Abdulelah Almansour1, Jumana Alagil2, Naela B Alamoudi3
1Family and Community Medicine Department, College of Medicine, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Background:
Physical activity is a known preventive measure for many worldwide public health issues. The purpose of this study is to assess the association between physical activity and the susceptibility to COVID-19 infection.
Patients And Methods:
This was a retrospective matched case-control study involving adult participants quarantined with IAU, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The total randomized sample of study participants were 142, in which 73 of them were tested positive for COVID-19 test and matched for both age and sex with their respective healthy controls who tested negative for COVID-19 test to determine the risk associated with that exposure.
Results:
Several variables are assessed regarding their influence on the susceptibility of COVID-19 infection. Exactly half indicated that they were physically active (n = 71). Physical activity did not show any significant association with COVID-19 contraction (x 2= 0.254, P= 0.614) nor self-rated level of physical activity (x 2= 0.122, P= 0.727). Less than half of the participants who had contact with a COVID-19 patient within 14 days of admission to quarantine appeared to have a significantly higher incidence of positive COVID-19 swab results compared to those who did not (x 2= 27.121, P= <0.001). While third of the participants who indicated that they have had a contact with someone who have Respiratory symptoms or fever within 14 days before admission were tested positive for COVID-19. Participants with lower educational degrees are more likely to be infected with COVID-19. While the rest of the demographic variables appear to be not significantly related to the likelihood of being COVID-19 infected, these include gender, marital status, employment status, age, and BMI.
Conclusion:
The present study showed no significant association between physical activity and susceptibility to COVID-19 infection. We recommend a larger sample size to further clarify the relationship between other variables and susceptibility of COVID-19.
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