Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41496808›Full record

ReviewSports medicine and health science2025

Physical activity during COVID-19 pandemic: A 5-year retrospect.

Jeffrey A Woods, Noah T Hutchinson, Scott K Powers, Mari Carmen Gomez-Cabrera, Zsolt Radak, Christiaan Leeuwenburgh, Stefano Cacciatore, Emanuele Marzetti, Tianou Zhang, Ronaldo Garza and 5 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Sports medicine and health science, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Physical Activity of University Students During COVID-19 Restrictions: Evidence from Poland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Jeffrey A WoodsDepartment of Health and Kinesiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Noah T HutchinsonDepartment of Health and Kinesiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Scott K PowersDepartment of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Mari Carmen Gomez-CabreraFreshage Research Group, Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Valencia and CIBERFES, Fundación Investigación Hospital Clínico Universitario/INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain.
Zsolt RadakHungarian University of Sport Science, Budapest, Hungary.
Christiaan LeeuwenburghCollege of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
Stefano CacciatoreDepartment of Geriatrics, Orthopedics and Rheumatology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Emanuele MarzettiDepartment of Geriatrics, Orthopedics and Rheumatology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy.
Tianou ZhangDepartment of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, USA.
Ronaldo GarzaDepartment of Kinesiology, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Corby SidebottomDepartment of Kinesiology, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Elizabeth AndersonDepartment of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
J Larry DurstineDepartment of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Junzhi SunInstitute of Sports Medicine and Health, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China.
Li Li JiSchool of Kinesiology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to provide a follow-up review of the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Disease or Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on human health and the role of physical activity (PA) during the 5-year pandemic. We aim to cover the immune system, the cardiopulmonary system, the musculoskeletal system, and the central nervous system (brain function), particularly among older adults, college students, and individuals with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (Long-COVID). The COVID-19 pandemic has given us many lessons, learned from the death of six million lives and tremendous disturbance to human life. First, we need to continue to investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms that mediate various organistic failures resulting from the viral infection. Such investigations are the only way to completely understand the etiology of the diseases and to develop new drugs and vaccines. The molecular pathways that transmit the signals of viral infection to each organ system are different requiring both basic and clinical research. Available evidence suggests that mitochondrial dysfunction, reduced microcirculation and latent immune activation play a major role, eventually impairing cardiovascular tolerance and peripheral bioenergetics. Second, the COVID-19 pandemic has manifested major disturbances to human lifestyles with reduced PA and exercise standing out as a major factor. Conversely, physical inactivity due to social confinement and mental/psychological stresses has been clearly linked to intensified pathogenic symptoms and amplification of adverse effects on multiple physiological systems. If not intervened, this interaction can lead to Long-COVID, a dangerous futile circle to cause systemic failure. Finally, the COVID-19 pandemic has exerted differential impacts on different populations. Thus, the strategy to develop and conduct to cope with the negativity of pandemic needs to be specific, flexible and tailored to fit different patient populations.

Indexed as

AgingBrainCardiac intoleranceCovid-19Immune systemLong-COVIDMusculoskeletalPhysical activity

Identifiers

PMID41496808
PMCPMC12766293

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.