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Table 4 Changes in self-reported frequency and duration of 18 popular forms of sport and physical activity1 from before Covid to during Covid: adults (aged 18 +) by region

From: The impact of COVID-19 restrictions on Australians' frequency and duration of participation in different types of sport and physical activity

Activity

Region2

n3

Frequency4 (sessions per 14 days)

Duration5 (minutes per session)

p values6

  

Mean before Covid

Mean during Covid

Change %

Mean before Covid

Mean during Covid

Change %

Australian football

Metro

298

2.57

0.75

− 70.7

68.66

23.49

− 65.8

Non-metro

203

2.93

0.97

− 66.8

66.43

21.36

− 67.8

All

501

2.72

0.84

− 69.0

67.74

22.62

− 66.6

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

  

Basketball

Metro

123

2.39

1.07

− 55.0

44.96

15.61

− 65.3

Non-metro

55

2.38

0.84

− 64.8

50.63

10.00

− 80.2

All

178

2.38

1.00

− 58.1

46.74

13.96

− 70.1

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

Year x Region .049

  

Bowls

Metro

706

6.49

0.51

− 92.2

160.93

35.85

− 77.7

Non-metro

382

5.67

0.43

− 92.5

151.80

39.31

− 74.1

All

1088

6.20

0.48

− 92.3

157.75

37.05

− 76.5

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

  

Boxing

Metro

133

1.87

0.97

− 48.1

38.06

14.24

− 62.6

Non-metro

63

2.58

2.76

6.9

32.58

15.53

− 52.3

All

196

2.10

1.54

− 26.4

36.32

14.65

− 59.7

p values

  

–

  

Year < .001

  

Bush walking

Metro

289

1.71

1.93

12.9

95.84

45.45

− 52.6

Non-metro

211

1.84

2.40

30.6

87.95

44.70

− 49.2

All

500

1.76

2.13

20.9

92.48

45.13

− 51.2

p values

  

–

  

Year < .001

  

Cricket

Metro

330

3.05

0.54

− 82.5

133.85

32.77

− 75.5

Non-metro

148

3.22

0.79

− 75.6

131.35

29.94

− 77.2

All

478

3.10

0.61

− 80.3

133.09

31.90

− 76.0

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

  

Cycling

Metro

571

3.42

3.76

9.9

61.44

59.25

− 3.6

Non-metro

340

3.11

3.71

19.0

52.38

50.88

− 2.9

All

911

3.31

3.74

13.1

58.05

56.13

− 3.3

p values

  

–

  

–

  

Fitness/Gym

Metro

910

4.58

3.08

− 32.7

55.36

27.11

− 51.0

Non-metro

387

4.62

2.98

− 35.5

55.11

24.95

− 54.7

All

1297

4.59

3.05

− 33.6

55.29

26.46

− 52.1

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

  

Football/soccer

Metro

666

4.58

1.36

− 70.4

87.16

26.34

− 69.8

Non-metro

185

4.63

1.41

− 69.6

97.25

24.12

− 75.2

All

851

4.59

1.37

− 70.2

89.35

25.85

− 71.1

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

Year x Region .049

  

Golf

Metro

1222

4.21

1.36

− 67.7

227.42

55.02

− 75.8

Non-metro

973

4.63

1.37

− 70.4

217.69

57.91

− 73.4

All

2195

4.39

1.36

− 69.0

223.11

56.30

− 74.8

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

  

Pilates

Metro

206

2.32

1.80

− 22.3

49.80

25.77

− 48.2

Non-metro

92

2.23

1.92

− 13.9

43.85

22.50

− 48.7

All

298

2.29

1.84

− 19.8

47.96

24.80

− 48.3

p values

  

Year .048

  

Year < .001

  

Running/jogging

Metro

551

3.05

4.41

44.8

34.56

32.11

− 7.1

Non-metro

235

3.65

4.66

27.5

36.96

34.15

− 7.6

All

786

3.23

4.49

39.0

35.27

32.71

− 7.3

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year .034

  

Swimming

Metro

510

4.22

0.90

− 78.7

58.65

11.02

− 81.2

Non-metro

281

4.53

0.82

− 81.8

58.76

10.48

− 82.2

All

791

4.33

0.87

− 79.9

58.69

10.83

− 81.5

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

  

Tennis

Metro

526

3.41

1.31

− 61.5

110.63

39.92

− 63.9

Non-metro

213

2.91

1.50

− 48.3

104.09

34.76

− 66.6

All

739

3.27

1.37

− 58.1

108.74

38.48

− 64.6

p values

  

Year < .001

  

Year < .001

  

Walking

Metro

1454

6.94

8.96

29.1

57.93

54.45

− 6.0

Non-metro

893

6.84

8.45

23.5

54.78

52.88

− 3.5

All

2347

6.91

8.77

27.0

56.73

53.85

− 5.1

p values

  

Year < .001

  

–

  

Yoga

Metro

184

2.31

2.86

23.9

42.58

27.66

− 35.1

Non-metro

121

3.36

4.02

19.7

40.75

24.76

− 39.2

All

305

2.72

3.32

21.9

41.85

26.54

− 36.6

p values

  

Year.006 Region .001

  

Year < .001

  

Other activities7,8

Metro

672

2.91

1.43

− 50.9

78.29

26.66

− 66.0

Non-metro

405

3.18

1.74

− 45.3

83.36

28.61

− 65.7

All

1077

3.01

1.55

− 48.7

80.19

27.38

− 65.9

All activities8

Metro

9351

4.31

2.95

− 31.4

96.34

38.18

− 60.4

Non-metro

5187

4.41

3.05

− 30.9

100.74

39.70

− 60.6

All

14,538

4.35

2.99

− 31.2

97.91

38.72

− 60.5

  1. 1Of the 4862 survey respondents identified by age as adult 4724 answered the questions on sport and physical activities. They reported 16,117 instances of participation (i.e. a person reporting participation in a particular activity) in a total of 88 sports and physical activities—an average of 3.4 different activities per person. The 15 activities which each contributed at least 1% of all instances of participation are listed in this table
  2. 2The metropolitan region comprises the Greater Capital City Statistical Area of each Australian state and territory (Australian Bureau of Statistics ref). The non-metropolitan region comprises the remainder of Australia. Regions are defined on the basis of residential postcode
  3. 3Some respondents did not answer the frequency and duration questions, and so the total number of responses is 14,538 rather than 16,117. A few gave partial responses, and so the sample sizes for the four variables in this table are not exactly equal. The indicative sample sizes shown in the table are for the frequency before Covid
  4. 4Question wording for frequency: “Before the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, in a usual 2-week period during the season for each of these sports, how many times would you participate (including any training or practice)?”; “In the past two weeks, how many times have you participated in each of these sports (including any training or practice)?”
  5. 5Question wording for duration: “On average, how many minutes would each session last?”; “On average, how many minutes does each session last?”
  6. 6Only statistically significant p values (< .05) are shown in the table
  7. 7 ‘Other’ encompasses the 73 activities which each contributed less than 1% of all reported instances of participation
  8. 8No statistical significance tests were conducted for data aggregated across multiple activities because many respondents participated in more than one activity, violating the assumption of independent observations
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BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation

ISSN: 2052-1847

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