Date of Presentation
5-4-2023 12:00 AM
College
School of Osteopathic Medicine
Poster Abstract
COVID-19 disease was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. This was a critical time in our country because obesity has been a national epidemic in the United States. Because of the dire effects of obesity and the well-known health benefits from physical activity, it is important for us to understand the effects of the pandemic on physical activity in family medicine patients. The overall hypothesis is that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the family medicine patients from maintaining physical activity as compared to pre-pandemic times. Outpatients were recruited in person in the examination rooms at the Rowan Family Medicine clinic located in Washington Township, NJ. Data were collected by hardcopy surveys that were distributed to the patients after they had consented to participate in the present study. Patients were given hard copies of the questionnaire to complete regarding physical activities and personal demographics. 109 patients volunteered for the survey. After analysis of the results, the study demonstrated that there were no significant changes in the mean BMIs and the number one activity when compared to pre-pandemic levels. The minimal changes in number one physical activity and BMI pre-pandemic and during the pandemic-current periods demonstrated resilience and habituation of patients in their lifestyle.
Keywords
COVID-19, Obesity, Exercise, Family Medicine
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Document Type
Poster
Included in
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical Activity
COVID-19 disease was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020. This was a critical time in our country because obesity has been a national epidemic in the United States. Because of the dire effects of obesity and the well-known health benefits from physical activity, it is important for us to understand the effects of the pandemic on physical activity in family medicine patients. The overall hypothesis is that the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the family medicine patients from maintaining physical activity as compared to pre-pandemic times. Outpatients were recruited in person in the examination rooms at the Rowan Family Medicine clinic located in Washington Township, NJ. Data were collected by hardcopy surveys that were distributed to the patients after they had consented to participate in the present study. Patients were given hard copies of the questionnaire to complete regarding physical activities and personal demographics. 109 patients volunteered for the survey. After analysis of the results, the study demonstrated that there were no significant changes in the mean BMIs and the number one activity when compared to pre-pandemic levels. The minimal changes in number one physical activity and BMI pre-pandemic and during the pandemic-current periods demonstrated resilience and habituation of patients in their lifestyle.