Abstract
Objective: To investigate if the physical activity (PA) prior to infection is associated with the severity of the disease in patients positively tested for COVID-19, as well as with the most common symptoms.
Design: A cross-sectional study using baseline data from a prospective, hybrid cohort study (Predi-COVID) in Luxembourg. Data were collected from May 2020 to June 2021.
Setting: Real-life setting (at home) and hospitalised patients.
Participants: All volunteers aged >18 years with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, as determined by reverse transcription-PCR, and having completed the PA questionnaire (n=452).
Primary and secondary outcome measures: The primary outcome was disease severity (asymptomatic, mild illness and moderate illness). The secondary outcomes were self-reported symptoms.
Results: From the 452 patients included, 216 (48%) were female, the median (IQR) age was 42 (31-51) years, 59 (13%) were classified as asymptomatic, 287 (63%) as mild illness and 106 (24%) as moderate illness. The most prevalent symptoms were fatigue (n=294; 65%), headache (n=281; 62%) and dry cough (n=241; 53%). After adjustment, the highest PA level was associated with a lower risk of moderate illness (OR 0.37; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.98, p=0.045), fatigue (OR 0.54; 95% CI 0.30 to 0.97, p=0.040), dry cough (OR 0.55; 95% CI 0.32 to 0.96, p=0.034) and chest pain (OR 0.32; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.77, p=0.010).
Conclusions: PA before COVID-19 infection was associated with a reduced risk of moderate illness severity and a reduced risk of experiencing fatigue, dry cough and chest pain, suggesting that engaging in PA may be an effective approach to minimise the severity of COVID-19.
Trial registration number: NCT04380987 .
Keywords: COVID-19; epidemiology; public health; sports medicine.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, public health, Epidemiology, Sports Medicine, 【초록키워드】 fatigue, physical activity, cross-sectional, SARS-COV-2 infection, severity, disease severity, Infection, Symptom, headache, Symptoms, reverse transcription-PCR, cohort study, Asymptomatic, COVID-19 infection, severity of COVID-19, female, Patient, age, Hospitalised patients, moderate, questionnaire, chest pain, Illness severity, Self-reported symptoms, Primary outcome, 95% CI, reduced risk, dry cough, lower risk, secondary outcome, Luxembourg, mild illness, Volunteer, approach, effective, prevalent, highest, tested, collected, the disease, baseline, IQR, the median, 【제목키워드】 physical activity, Infection, cohort study, COVID-19 disease severity,