What were we trying to do?
We investigated the levels of physical activity among older adults prior to and during the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions.

 

Why was it important?
There was growing concern that the lockdown measures introduced to combat COVID-19 may have inadvertently led to a reduction in physical activity, particularly among older adults. This was worrying as physical activity has been shown to be important in helping people to avoid falls and the mismanagement of long-term conditions as well as helping people to live happy and fulfilled lives.

 

How did we do it?

We used a large sample of 3,660 older adults (aged 65 or older) who took part in the UK Household Longitudinal Study’s annual and COVID-19 studies. We examined changes in the proportion of older adults who were following the UK Chief Medical Officer physical activity recommendations for health maintenance both before and after the COVID-19 lockdowns. We did this nationally, regionally and locally. 

 

We also looked at which individual and area-level characteristics predicted there would be reduced physical activity, to help identify groups of people who may be more vulnerable to falls, deconditioning and experiencing a reduction in their quality-of-life.

 

 

Findings

We found that there was a marked decline in older adults’ physical activity levels during the third national lockdown in January 2021. 

 

The proportion following the Chief Medical Officer physical activity recommendations decreased from 43% in September 2020 to 33% in January 2021, and this decrease occurred regardless of health condition, age, neighbourhood deprivation, or pre-pandemic activity levels. 

 

Interestingly, those who did the least activity pre-lockdown increased their activity during lockdowns, while those who were doing the most pre-lockdown decreased their activity levels.

 

In conclusion, the reduction in older adults’ physical activity levels during COVID-19 lockdowns has put them at risk of becoming deconditioned and developing adverse health outcomes. Resources should be allocated to promote the uptake of physical activity in older adults to reverse the effects of deconditioning.
 

Dr Luke Munford, Deputy Lead of our Economic Sustainability theme, who co-authored the paper

 

“We know that it is really important to keep people physically active as it has been shown to improve quality of life and mental well-being. We show here that the lockdowns associated with the pandemic led to reductions in levels of physical activity and we need urgent action to reverse these trends.”

 

 

 

Downloadable resources:

• Publications
  • Elliott, J., Munford, L., Ahmed, S. et al. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on physical activity amongst older adults: evidence from longitudinal data in the UK. BMC Public Health
• News story
  • COVID-19 lockdown was associated with fewer physically active older adults, a recent paper shows published November 2022

 

 

More information 

 

 

Programme Manager
 

Alison Littlewood
alison.j.littlewood@manchester.ac.uk