A 'pandemic snapshot' of the health of Calgarians

Abstract

In 2021, the McCaig Institute for Bone & Joint Health launched the “Mobility For Life” (M4L) Project during the COVID-19 pandemic with the objective of improving the mobility and wellness of Albertans. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to provide insight regarding the health of Albertans during the pandemic focusing on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, mood, pain and quality of life parameters, and to compare the differences between ‘Lockdown’ and ‘Post-lockdown’ groups. Between February and December 2021, 197 adults enrolled in the M4L cohort and completed an online intake questionnaire. In addition to demographics, the following validated questionnaires were used to characterize the cohort: the Self-Administered Comorbidity Questionnaire (SCQ), the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), The EuroQol Group 5 Dimension 5 Level (EQ-5D-5L), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7), and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) for pain and physical function. Data were analyzed using SPSS statistics. Overall, participants spent 2.57 hours per day being active and 2.12 hours per day sitting, and rated their current health as 85 out of 100. The results also indicated that most participants experienced normal to mild levels of depression and minimal or mild anxiety based on PHQ-9 and GAD-7 results; however, 15.5% of respondents had moderate or severe depression, while 3.4% of respondents had moderate or severe anxiety. The cohort scored similar to the population average for the PROMIS questionnaires, indicating that even though participants were experiencing the effects of COVID-19 restrictions on daily life, their perception of pain and physical function was not very different from the population average. With the exception of ethnicity, there were no statistical differences between the ‘Lockdown and ‘Post-lockdown’ groups. Our results suggest most Albertans were not anxious or depressed and were meeting aerobic physical activity requirements during the pandemic.