The Effects of Physical Inactivity and Exercise at Home in Young Patients with Congenital Heart Disease during the COVID-19 Pandemic

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Fabrizio Drago¹  Andrea De Zorzi¹  Lorenzo Galletti¹  Benedetta Leonardi¹  Marco Alfonso Perrone¹  Paolo Guccione¹  Stefani Silva Kikina¹  Ugo Giordano²  Giulia Cafiero²  Annamaria Salvati²  Attilio Turchetta²  Federica Gentili²  Massimiliano Bianco³ 

[1] Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy;Division of Sports Medicine, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital IRCCS, 00165 Rome, Italy;Unità Operativa Complessa di Medicina dello Sport e Rieducazione Funzionale, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy;

关键词: congenital heart disease;    COVID-19;    exercise training;    physical activity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph181910065

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the population’s ability to be physically active. Purpose: Evaluate the effect of the COVID-19 mitigation measures on exercise tolerance in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Materials and methods: All subjects (880, 6–18 years old) who performed a stress test at our hospital from October 2020 to February 2021 and had a similar test one year earlier were enrolled. A questionnaire on the degree of physical activity carried out in 2020 concerning the period prior to the pandemic was compiled. Exercise tolerance and the main anthropometric parameters between the first and second tests were compared. Results: 110 subjects (11.9 ± 4.1 years) were included in the study. The percentage of patients engaged in regular physical activity (RPA) decreased significantly during the pandemic (p < 0.001), and BMI increased significantly (p < 0.001), except among the subjects who began RPA during the lockdown, whereas test duration did not decrease significantly overall but increased in this last subgroup (p < 0.05) Conclusions: The COVID-19 lockdown led to a less active lifestyle with a significant increase in BMI in our group of CHD. These data could have negative effects on the risk profile of this population. RPA practiced at home seems to be effective in counteracting such effects.

【 授权许可】

Unknown