Changes in the Health of Adolescent Athletes: A Comparison of Health Measures Collected Before and During the CoVID-19 Pandemic

ContextIn the spring of 2020, schools closed to in-person teaching and sports were cancelled to control the transmission of CoVID-19. The changes that took place to the physical and mental health among young athletes during this time remain unknown, however. ObjectiveIdentify changes in the health (mental health, physical activity and quality of life) of athletes that occurred during the CoVID-19 pandemic. DesignCross sectional study. SettingSample recruited via social media. Patients or Other Participants3243 Wisconsin adolescent athletes (age=16.2{+/-}1.2 yrs., female=58% female) completed an online survey in May 2020 (DuringCoVID-19). Health measures for this cohort were compared with previously reported data for Wisconsin adolescent athletes (n=5231, age=15.7{+/-}1.2, 47% female) collected in 2016-2018 (PreCoVID-19). Main Outcome Measure(s)Demographic information included: sex, grade and sports played. Health assessments included the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Item (PHQ-9) to identify depression symptoms, the Pediatric Functional Activity Brief Scale (PFABS) for physical activity, and the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL) for health related quality of life (HRQoL). Univariable comparisons of these variables between groups were made via t-tests or chi-square tests. Means and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each group were estimated by survey weighted ANOVA models. RESULTSCompared to PreCoVID-19, a larger proportion of the During-CoVID-19 participants reported rates of moderate to severe levels of depression (9.7% vs 32.9%, p<0.001). During-CoVID-19 participants reported 50% lower (worse) PFABS scores (mean:12.2 [95%CI: 11.9, 12.5] vs 24.7 [24.5, 24.9] p<0.001) and lower (worse) PedsQL total scores compared to the PreCoVID-19 participants (78.4 [78.0, 78.8] vs. 90.9 [90.5, 91.3] p<0.001). CONCLUSIONSDuring the CoVID-19 pandemic, adolescent athletes reported increased symptoms of depression, decreased physical activity and decreased quality of life compared to adolescent athletes in previous years. Key pointsO_LIAdolescent athletes during CoVID-19 were three times more likely to report moderate to severe symptoms of depression compared to data collected prior to CoVID-19. C_LIO_LIAdolescent athletes during CoVID-19 reported significantly lower physical activity and quality of life scores compared to high school athletes prior to the CoVID-19 pandemic C_LIO_LIPost CoVID-19 policies should be implemented to improve the health of adolescent athletes in the US. C_LI