Changes in physical activity and its impact on MAFLD during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: Multiple factors, such as diet and physical activity, are involved in the pathogenesis of fatty liver associated with metabolic dysfunction (MAFLD). After confinement by COVID-19, interest has arisen to study its effect on the population. This study aimed to describe the impact of changes in physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic on the progression of MAFLD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Observational, analytical, retrospective, longitudinal and comparative study in patients with MAFLD from the Instituto de Investigations Médico Biologicals of the Universidad Veracruzana. The information was obtained from a database from which values of steatosis, fibrosis and degree of physical activity measured by IPAQ were obtained. Student's t-test for related samples was used for numerical variables. RESULTS: Thirty-four patients were studied, of which 15 were excluded due to incomplete records. Nineteen patients were included; the mean age was 60.42±8.1 years, female sex was predominant (57.9%). Initial somatometric data are described in Table 1. A significant increase in physical activity in minutes per week was observed (p=0.037), as well as the reduction of intrahepatic fat after the pandemic (Fig.1). CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, our population increased physical activity, which resulted in an improvement in hepatic steatosis significantly. FUNDING: The resources used in this study were from the hospital without any additional financing DECLARATION OF INTEREST: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.