The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak has had an effect on people’s physical, mental, and social well-being. Studies carried out during the initial pandemic showed a decline in regular activity levels across the globe. However, the causes of the lower step counts in the COVID-19 scenario are not well understood and need more research.
Before and after the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in the United States, daily step counts were compared in the current study (US).
The participants in the study, which used the AOU program-controlled dataset (released in June 2022), wore digital devices to track step counts for approximately 10.0 days each month. Between January 2018 and December 2021, a period of four years, daily activity (averaged monthly) was assessed.
The median income in the study cohort was 61,193 dollars. Concerning comorbidities, 12%, 3.3%, 3.2%, 38%, and 23% of the participants suffered from obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease, hypertension, and cancer, respectively. The mean values for the deprivation index, impact of event scale (IES) scores, patient health questionnaire (PHQ) scores, and perceived stress scale (PSS) scores were 0.3, 1.2, 2.0, and 11.5, respectively.
The median values for the observed daily steps taken before and after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic were 7,808 and 7,089, respectively. Counterfactual analysis estimates indicated 575 fewer daily steps in the post-SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period.
The differences between observed and predicted steps taken in the post-SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period could be explained significantly by lower age, north-eastern regions, and greater deprivation index. In addition, the number of steps taken in the post-SARS-CoV-2 pandemic period could be explained by the status of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination, psychological stress, and depression.
