Device-assessed sleep and physical activity in individuals recovering from a hospital admission for COVID-19: a prospective, multicentre study
Abstract
Objectives
To describe physical behaviours following hospital admission for COVID-19 including associations with acute illness severity and ongoing symptoms.
Methods
1077 patients with COVID-19 discharged from hospital between March and November 2020 were recruited. Using a 14-day wear protocol, wrist-worn accelerometers were sent to participants after a five-month follow-up assessment. Acute illness severity was assessed by the WHO clinical progression scale, and the severity of ongoing symptoms was assessed using four previously reported data-driven clinical recovery clusters. Two existing control populations of office workers and type 2 diabetes were comparators.
Results
Valid accelerometer data from 253 women and 462 men were included. Women engaged in a mean±SD of 14.9±14.7 minutes/day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), with 725.6±104.9 minutes/day spent inactive and 7.22±1.08 hours/day asleep. The values for men were 21.0±22.3 and 755.5±102.8 minutes/day and 6.94±1.14 hours/day, respectively. Over 60% of women and men did not have any days containing a 30-minute bout of MVPA. Variability in sleep timing was approximately 2 hours in men and women. More severe acute illness was associated with lower total activity and MVPA in recovery. The very severe recovery cluster was associated with fewer days/week containing continuous bouts of MVPA, longer sleep duration, and higher variability in sleep timing. Patients post-hospitalisation with COVID-19 had lower levels of physical activity, greater sleep variability, and lower sleep efficiency than a similarly aged cohort of office workers or those with type 2 diabetes.
Conclusions
Physical activity and regulating sleep patterns are potential treatable traits for COVID-19 recovery programmes.
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