Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Exercise Habits Among US Primary Care Patients

To explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected exercise habits, we hypothesized that participants' physical activity would have increased by at least 30 min/wk after the onset of the pandemic.

We distributed an anonymous survey to ambulatory patients at the Family Medicine Clinic, University of Kansas Medical Center to analyze changes in exercise habits and weight.

Of the 500 adult patients surveyed, 382 were included. Results were stratified by demographics, including employment status before and during COVID-19. The median change in weekly exercise duration was 0.0 minutes, but the mean change was -25.7 minutes; total exercise duration decreased after the pandemic's onset (paired Wilcox signed rank test P < .001). More individuals reported participation in virtual group classes (6.3% before the pandemic vs 13.1% during the pandemic; McNemar's P < .001). Individuals with home exercise equipment before the pandemic were more likely to acquire more than were those who had none before (Chi square test P < .005). Overall, there is a significant trend in the direction of weight gain (Wilcox signed rank test P < .001).

Most participants decreased physical activity during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, expanding our understanding of how exercise habits change during stressful life events.