| Title: | Physical activity and COVID-19: an observational and Mendelian randomisation study |
| Journal: | Journal of Global Health |
| Published: | 6 Dec 2020 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33312507/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.7189/jogh-10-020514 |
Publication 7489
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) is known to be a protective lifestyle factor against several non-communicable diseases while its impact on infectious diseases, including Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is not as clear.METHODS: We performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression to identify associations between both objectively and subjectively measured PA collected prospectively and COVID-19 related outcomes (overall COVID-19, inpatient COVID-19, outpatient COVID-19, and COVID-19 death) in the UK Biobank cohort. Subsequently, we tested causality by using Mendelian randomisation (MR) analyses.
RESULTS: In the multivariable model, the increased acceleration vector magnitude PA (AMPA) is associated with a decreased probability of overall and outpatient COVID-19 with an odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of 0.80 (0.69, 0.93) and 0.74 (0.58, 0.95), respectively. No association is found between self-reported moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and COVID-19 related outcomes. No association is found by MR analyses.
CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate a protective effect of objectively measured PA and COVID-19 outcomes (outpatient COVID-19 and overall COVID-19) independent of age, sex, measures of obesity, and smoking status. Although the MR analyses do not support a causal association, that may be due to limited power. We conclude that policies to encourage and facilitate exercise at a population level during the pandemic should be considered.
9 Authors
- Xiaomeng Zhang
- Xue Li
- Ziwen Sun
- Yazhou He
- Wei Xu
- Harry Campbell
- Malcolm G Dunlop
- Maria Timofeeva
- Evropi Theodoratou
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