Due to the issuance of a state of emergency declaration under the spread of new coronavirus infection, it has been reported that the amount of physical activity in the elderly has decreased, but there is no study using an objective measurement method or a design that can refer to cause and effect.Therefore, in this study, we investigated the effects of the declaration of a state of emergency on physical activity in the elderly using objective measurements and a quasi-experimental design (discontinuous regression design).

　The data used is from a physical activity measurement program conducted jointly by the National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology and Kao Corporation in Takahama City, Aichi Prefecture.In this program, HW-2015 activity meters were distributed to participants in the functional health checkups for the elderly (Takahama City, Aichi Prefecture) conducted from 17 to 100. We requested periodic data transmission to the research institute and output of an activity status report (circulation of the results to the person himself/herself).Of the participants, 2020 who continuously underwent physical activity measurement from February 2 to July 2021 were analyzed.

　Amount of physical activity (number of steps, duration of low-intensity physical activity, moderate-to-high intensity physical activity) associated with the state of emergency declared three times during the observation period (starting on April 3, 2020, January 4, 7, and May 2021, 1) time) is examined.As a result, it was found that even under the state of emergency declaration, the amount of physical activity did not decrease among the elderly who regularly self-monitored physical activity.

Paper information:[BMC Public Health] Association between COVID-19 emergency declarations and physical activity among community-dwelling older adults enrolled in a physical activity measurement program: Evidence from a retrospective observational study using the regression discontinuity design