Evolution of outdoor sports during the COVID-19 post-lockdown in Spain: a nationwide population-based study

Measures implemented to control the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic influenced physical activity, including participation in sports. However, how long this impact persisted after lifting restrictions has not been well documented. Our purpose was to compare prevalence of outdoor sports in Spain right after the strict lockdown at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which did not allow people to leave their homes to exercise, and during the new normal.

Nationwide population-based study in Spain (ENE-COVID). Participants were selected through two-stage stratified random sampling. Epidemiological information was gathered in the early post-lockdown (May-June 2020, n = 64,258) and in the new normal (November 2020, n = 50,159). We estimated crude and logistic model-based standardized prevalences of outdoor sports, and differences by personal and contextual characteristics.

Prevalence of outdoor sports in the early post-lockdown was 36.7% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 35.8, 37.6), increasing to 53.4% (95% CI: 52.4, 54.4) in the new normal. Children, older people, and those living in provinces with higher SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence showed a more delayed recovery of activity. Among people not practicing outdoor sports in the early post-lockdown, 41% (95% CI: 39.9, 42.2) practiced them in the new normal, while discontinuation percentage was 25.3% (95% CI: 24.3, 26.4).

Participation in outdoor sports, abruptly interrupted during the strict home-confinement, was not resumed immediately but remained severely reduced early after the lockdown. Seven months later, baseline levels had been recovered in general, although differences were observed depending on sociodemographic and health-status factors. This highlights the importance of considering personal and contextual characteristics to plan physical activity and sport promotion strategies in contexts requiring population movement restrictions.