Long Covid and the role of physical activity: a qualitative study

Objectives

To explore the lived experience of Long Covid with particular focus on the role of physical activity

Design

Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews

Participants

18 people living with Long Covid (9 male, 9 female; aged between 18-74; 10 White British, 3 White Other, 3 Asian, 1 Black, 1 mixed ethnicity) recruited via a UK-based research interest database for people with Long Covid

Setting

Telephone interviews with 17 participants living in the UK and 1 participant living in the US

Results

Four themes were generated. Theme one highlights the physical and social isolation experienced by people with Long Covid, compounded by a lack of support and advice from medical professionals. Theme two describes how participants sought information and validation through online sources and communities. Theme three captures the challenges associated with managing physical and cognitive effects of Long Covid including fatigue and ‘brain fog’ whilst trying to resume and maintain activities of daily living and other forms of exercise. Theme four illustrates the battle with self-concept to accept reduced function (even temporarily) and the fear of permanent reduction in physical and cognitive ability.

Conclusions

This study provides insight into the challenges of managing physical activity alongside the extended symptoms associated with Long Covid. Findings highlight the need for greater consensus around physical activity-related advice for people with Long Covid and improved support to resume activities considered important for wellbeing.

Article Summary

Strengths and limitations of this study

• To our knowledge, this paper is the first to explore the role of physical activity in the lived experience of Long Covid using a qualitative approach

• The study design enabled in-depth inquiry of lived experiences in a diverse sample

• Inductive thematic analysis ensured descriptions and interpretations of the lived experience were tested and found to be grounded in the data

• Participants were recruited from members of a Long Covid research interest database who registered via an on-line form, meaning study findings might not capture the views of digitally excluded populations

Funding statement

This work was supported by Sheffield Hallam University.

Competing interests

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form at <ext-link xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf">www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf</ext-link> and declare: no support from any organization for the submitted work; no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work in the previous three years; no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.