Impact of physical activity on response to stress in people aged 65 and over during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Background: The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected the lives of many people. In particular, restrictions of physical activity (PA) due to pandemic-related lockdown have impacted their psychological status. The aim of this work was to investigate the relationship between PA habits, before the pandemic and during the lockdown, and responses to stress due to home isolation during the lockdown, in older people. Methods: To this aim, an online survey addressed to people aged 65 years and over was conducted during the first pandemic wave in Italy (Study 1). To explore the effect of PA restrictions on responses to stress over time, the survey was replicated during the second…