Network Magazine Winter 2021 | Page 20

THE QUICK READ
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US has documented that advanced age , gender ( males ) and certain chronic diseases are recognised risk factors for severe COVID-19
• Researchers set out to identify whether there was a relationship between levels of physical activity and risk of severe COVID-19 complications or death
• The study involved over 48,000 participants aged 18 years and older with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis
• Inactive individuals were over three times as likely to be hospitalised from COVID-19 , almost three times as likely to be admitted to an intensive care unit , and six times more likely to die from COVID-19 .
Introduction : There is a large cohort of us ageing fitness fanatics who continually attempt to defy the steady march of time and maintain our once youthful strength and fitness through continual , high-intensity , scientific , evidencebased training regimes . During the pandemic closures of gyms and fitness facilities in NSW and QLD , I was fortunate to have access , albeit somewhat restricted , to strength and cardio training equipment . Many friends and colleagues , however , were not so fortunate and went to the dark side of being sedentary for months due to COVID restrictions and a lack of access to alternative training means .
But what about the Homer Simpsons and other individuals who avoid any form of exercise or physical activity ? Well , it turns out this group of couch potatoes is associated with a much higher risk of severe COVID-19 compared

Given COVID-19 will continue to affect life around the world , this study has significant and wide implications for regularly participating in physical activity

to fitness enthusiasts - at least according to Professor Sallis and his colleagues ’ recent publication , the focus of this Research Review . Sallis and his team studied data from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in the US , a healthcare system which serves approximately five million residents in Southern California .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , generally just referred to as the CDC , is the United States national health protection agency , whose mission it is to protect public health , and save lives by tracking health and disease trends , such as COVID-19 . The CDC has documented that advanced age , gender ( males ) and the presence of certain chronic diseases such as diabetes , obesity and cardiovascular disease , are well recognised risk factors for severe COVID-19 . However , Clinical Professor Sallis ( an eminent sports medicine doctor ) and colleagues set out to identify whether there was a relationship between levels of physical activity and risk of developing severe COVID-19 complications or death . Method : The researchers conducted a study involving over 48,000 participants who were aged 18 years and older with a positive COVID-19 diagnosis between January 2020 and October 2020 .
Exercise vital signs ( EVS ), is used with every outpatient at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center . EVS involves asking and recording the answers to two questions about the patient ’ s typical exercise habits over the previous two months . For example , on average , how many days per week do you engage in moderate to strenuous exercise ( 0 to 7 days per week ). And if they do complete moderate to strenuous exercise , how many minutes at that level
TABLE 1
Consistently inactive (~ 7,000 participants )
Some activity (~ 38,000 participants )
Meeting current physical activity guidelines (~ 3,100 )
Hospitalisation 10.5 % 8.9 % 3.2 % Admitted to ICU 2.8 % 2.5 % 1.0 % Deceased 2.4 % 1.5 % 0.4 %
20 | NETWORK WINTER 2021