JCOA The Japanese Clinical Orthopaedic Association the questionnaire survey on the physical changes after the self-restraint of outdoor activities with the COVID-19 crisis (2nd report)

Abstract

Background: In March 2021, the 3rd wave of COVID-19 pandemic had ended and the second emergency declaration in January in Tokyo and 3 other prefectures had been lifted. The restrictions on the social activities imposed on the Japanese people and it had become established as "the new lifestyle norm" for each age group. Following our first survey, we conducted a questionnaire survey again to determine the physical changes in all age groups and compared the findings.

Methods: The 1st survey was conducted after the initial emergency declaration lifted in July 2020, and the 2nd survey was 10 months after the first survey March 2021. And the analysis was conducted by simple and cross tabulation.

Results: The number of valid responses were obtained over 12,000 samples for the both surveys. One year later, "Corona locomo" decreased from the previous year in all age groups, especially school students, while it increased in "80s∼". "Corona stress" decreased sharply among children, especially elementary school students, while it increased slightly in 20s, 30s, and "80s∼". The physical condition was closely related to the proportion of exercising population and duration in each age group.

Conclusions: "The new lifestyle norm" as a countermeasure against COVID-19 crisis had a significant influence on physical condition in each age group as "the secondary health damage". Forcusing on "With Corona era", it is considered necessary for preventing "locomo-frail", to improve the exercise lifestyles by selecting tailor-made training methods.

Keywords: COVID-19 crisis; Corona locomo; Corona stress; The questionnaire survey.