Balance performance analysis after the COVID-19 quarantine in children aged between 8 and 12 years old: Longitudinal study

• Published in: Gait & posture 2022-05, Vol.94, p.203-209
• Main Authors: Martínez-Córcoles, Vicenta, Nieto-Gil, Pilar, Ramos-Petersen, Laura, Ferrer-Torregrosa, Javier
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Balance; Child; Children; Control postural; COVID-19; Female; Humans; Lockdown; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Pandemic; Physical activity; Postural Balance; Quarantine; Spain
• ISSN: 0966-6362; 1879-2219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.03.019

Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has caused great changes in daily activities, especially in children. In Spain, to avoid infections, a home quarantine was declared, which caused a drastic reduction in daily or weekly physical activity in children. to analyse the balance performance after the COVID-19-induced quarantine on children’s balance, through the use of balance tests, considering the type of sport practiced. an observational and longitudinal study was carried out with a sample size of 150 healthy children (69 boys and 81 girls) with a mean age of 10.02 ± 1.15 years. Postural control was evaluated under different equilibrium conditions before and after the quarantine period. Two data collections using the Gyko system were compared, with a difference of 8 months between them. In addition, the influence of foot type and physical activity was analysed. After the quarantine, statistically significant differences were found in terms of balance results, which were worse than before (p  0.05). Physically active children (i.e., individual and / or collective sport) presented worse results than physically inactive children. A statistically significant impairment in terms of balance was demonstrated in children who performed high and moderate physical activity (p