Pain and physical activity changes during the COVID-19 state of emergency among Japanese adults aged 40 years or older: A cross-sectional study

Understanding the relationship between pain and physical activity (PA) levels is beneficial for maintaining good health status. However, the impact of pain on changes in PA during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine whether PA levels pre-, during, and post-COVID-19 state of emergency differ between Japanese adults who had pain after the COVID-19 state of emergency and those who did not. Data were collected from a cross-sectional online survey conducted between October 19 and 28, 2020. The analytic sample consisted of 1967 Japanese adults aged ≥40 years who completed the online survey. Participants completed questionnaires on the presence of pain and duration of PA, defined as the total PA time per week based on activity frequency and time. Participants were asked to report their PA at 3 time points: October 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), April 2020 (during the COVID-19 state of emergency), and October 2020 (after the COVID-19 state of emergency). Among participants aged ≥60 years who reported pain in October 2020, the total PA time was significantly lower than participants who did not report having pain. Furthermore, the total PA time in April 2020 was significantly lower than that in October 2019; however, no significant difference in total PA time was observed between April and October 2020. Among participants aged 40 to 59 years, no significant differences were observed in total PA times at the 3 time points between those with and without pain. In addition, the total PA time in October 2020 significantly increased compared to that in April 2020, although it significantly decreased in April 2020 compared to October 2019. This study suggests that older adults with pain have lower PA levels after the COVID-19 state of emergency.