2021 年 36 巻 p. 16-20
Physical restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic raised health consequences among older adults. The amount of physical activity decreased because of the pandemic, which may lead to a higher incidence of frailty. However, several older adults changed their physical activities positively during the pandemic. The relationship between physical activity and mental health among older adults was maintained even during the pandemic. Those who performed greater levels of physical activity showed higher levels of mental health. Since these kinds of studies are cross-sectional and maybe recall biased, longitudinal studies are needed. So, we focused on exercise as a coping strategy to maintain physical and mental health during the COVID-19-related stay-at-home period and examined its impact on mental health using longitudinal data. About 80% of participants engaged in either walking or exercise at home as a coping strategy. Although the mental health of older adults declined greater than the normal annual change, those who engaged in walking maintained better mental health than those who did not. Therefore, it is necessary to actively encourage physical activity and exercise for older adults to stay healthy and cope with stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.