Impact of home quarantine on physical activity for older adults living at home during the Covid-19 pandemic: Qualitative interview study.

BACKGROUND: Older adults and those with pre-existing medical conditions are at risk for dying of SARS CoV-2. In this periodof quarantine, one of the reasons for going out is physical activity (PA). This issue is important as the impact of a sedentarylifestyle might be lower for children and young adults, but far more crucial for older adults. Indeed, they need to stay at homebecause they have a higher risk of a Covid-19 infection but they also need to avoid sedentarily. PA is important for older adults,especially to maintain their level of independence, their mental health, and well-being. Maintaining mobility in old age is,therefore, necessary, as it may predict loss of independence in older adults.
OBJECTIVE: Our first objective was to evaluate the impact of this quarantine period on PA program organizations and on thephysical and mental health of older adults. Our second objective was to discuss which alternatives could be suggested to thispopulation to avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
METHODS: We decided to conduct a qualitative survey by semi-structured interviews with professionals (managers in charge ofPA programs for older adults and sports trainers who run these PA programs) from the French Federation of Physical Educationand Voluntary Gymnastics (FFPEVG) and older adults participating in a PA program of the FFPEVG. We followed a commoninterview guide (appendix 1 and 2). For analysis, we carried out a thematic analysis of the interviews.
RESULTS: This study suggests that the Covid-19 epidemic has affected, before quarantine measures, the number of seniorsattending group PA programs in our two study territories. Another result of our study is that despite the decline in older adults'participation in-group physical activities before the quarantine, they expressed the need to do physical activity at home. There isa need to help older adults integrate simple, safe ways to stay physically active in limited space. A national policy to supportolder adults for PA at home appears essential in this context. Given the results of our study, it seems necessary to address globalcommunication toward older adults about the importance of maintaining PA at home.
CONCLUSIONS: We wonder about the level of independence and mental health in which the older adults will be after the end ofquarantine if there is no appropriate campaign to promote PA at home for them.