Balance performance analysis after the COVID-19 quarantine in children aged between 8 and 12 years old: Longitudinal study.
Vicenta Martínez-Córcoles, Pilar Nieto-Gil, Laura Ramos-Petersen and 1 others
PMID 35366430WHAT IT FOUND
Balance worsened in 150 children after COVID-19 quarantine, measured as larger sway area.
Sport type and foot type did not explain the change. Children with intensive or moderate activity before quarantine showed worse balance afterwards.
Key findings
01Balance worsened after the COVID-19 quarantine, with larger sway area in the tested conditions.
02Sport type and foot type did not explain the post-quarantine balance change.
03Children with intensive or moderate physical activity before quarantine showed deteriorated balance after quarantine.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study did not measure or monitor what physical activity the children actually did during quarantine, so the balance change cannot be pinned to inactivity alone. It compared only two specific dates, from November 2019 to July 2020, and did not control for other changes over that period. The authors did not assess muscle mass loss, home activity, or other biases that could influence balance. They did not calculate reliability coefficients for the outcomes, although the same researcher did both measurements and the device protocol had prior validity evidence. Children with vestibular, neurological, muscular, psychological, visual, pharmacological, or orthopaedic conditions were excluded, so this does not speak to children with those impairments. Infection, other illnesses, and BMI changes were not controlled.
Declared interests
No funding was reported, and the authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that quarantine inactivity caused the balance decline, because activity during quarantine was not measured and infection or BMI changes were not controlled.