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Physical activity before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic: a smartphone-tracking study of university students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia

Article scientifique 2023 Anglais

Résumé

Abstract Background: COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a real threat to human society in terms of economy, health, and people's lifestyle. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the physical activity level of Egyptian and Saudi university students before and during the first and second years of COVID-19 pandemic by recording daily step counts to understand the impact of COVID-19 on physical activity in Egyptian and Saudi Arabia young adults. Methods: We used the daily step counts recorded by a smartphone application (iPhone Health App) from January 2019 to December 2021 for 1273 university students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Results: Of 1273 university students who participated in the study, 645 were from Egypt, and 628 were from Saudi Arabia. The mean age of Egyptian university students was 20.00 ± 3.39 years, while the mean age of Saudi university students was 21.02 ± 2.99 years. There was a significant difference between pre-COVID and post-COVID 1st year (3909.766 ± vs 2913.45) and between post-COVID 1st year and post-COVID 2nd year (2913.45 vs 3726.24). The daily step count was also significantly higher among Egyptian university students than male Saudi university students (4146.72 vs 3305.75) in post-COVID-2nd year but not in females. The daily step counts were significantly lower in females than males, with only Egyptians in the three-time points (p < 0.01). Conclusion: These findings outline that both Egyptian and Saudi participants were far from the physical activity guidelines. Our data also showed that COVID-19 pandemic greatly influenced the daily step counts of university students due to restrictive governmental measures. Physical activity initiatives are needed in both countries to encourage active living and discourage sedentary lifestyles especially in female university students.

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Aly, M., AlMarzooqi, M., Mohamed, S., Alzahrani, T., Abdelkarim, O. (2023). Physical activity before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic: a smartphone-tracking study of university students in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2209514/v1

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Mohamed Aly Mezna A. AlMarzooqi Sheref Mohamed Turki Alzahrani Osama Abdelkarim

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