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Barcelona, March 31 (EFE) .- The impact that the confinement due to covid in March 2020 had on people’s health depended on the rigidity of the measures applied in each city, but in general air pollution fell in all and noise, although physical activity also decreased, which caused greater damage to health.
To find out how the restrictions affected the health of the population and draw lessons for future emergencies, the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) has carried out a study on the health impact of the confinement measures in Barcelona – where it was strict-, Stockholm -where there were more lax measures- and Vienna -with intermediate restrictions-.
The study, which is published in the journal ‘Environmental Pollution’, collected data on pollution, noise and physical activity from three different times in the three cities: before the pandemic, during the strictest confinement and in the subsequent deconfinement period.
First, the ISGlobal team, a center promoted by the La Caixa Foundation, calculated the differences between pre-pandemic and pandemic levels and then compared these differences with data from health systems to translate them into how many annual diagnoses of myocardial infarction, stroke, depression and anxiety might have been avoided in each city if the reduction in pollution, noise, physical activity and visits to green spaces had lasted for a year.
95% DECREASES IN PHYSICAL ACTIVITY
The first conclusion of the work corroborated that the degree of rigidity of the confinement measures was directly related to the magnitude of the decrease registered in exposures.
Thus, the city with the hardest confinement, Barcelona, was the one that registered the greatest decreases with respect to pre-pandemic levels of pollution, noise, physical activity and visits to green spaces.
Specifically, during the first confinement, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations fell by an average of 50%, daily noise levels were reduced by 5 decibels (dB), and physical activity fell by 95%.
During the same period, in Vienna, NO2 pollution fell by 22%, average daily noise fell by only 1 dB, and physical activity decreased by 76%.
In Stockholm, NO2 fell by 9%, average daily noise fell by 2 dB, and physical activity fell by 42%.
Once the variations registered in each city with respect to the pre-pandemic stage were quantified, the researchers simulated, with the help of a data model, the impact that the confinement measures would have had if they had been extended for a whole year.
The analysis revealed that physical activity is the factor of all those studied with the greatest impact on health.
In this way, a hypothetical extension of strict confinement in Barcelona for a whole year would have resulted in a 10% increase in strokes and myocardial infarctions and in respective increases of 8% and 12% in diagnoses of depression and anxiety. , as a consequence of the general decrease in physical activity.
Reducing physical activity in Vienna for a whole year, in turn, might have led to a 5% increase in the annual incidence of stroke and myocardial infarction, as well as 4% and 7% spikes in diagnoses of depression and anxiety.
Even in Stockholm, the city with the slightest decline in physical activity levels, the model estimated increases of 3% in the respective incidences of stroke and myocardial infarction, 2% in depression diagnoses, and 3% of anxiety cases.
POLLUTION AND NOISE, ON THE POSITIVE SIDE
The positive reading of the data comes from the decreases registered in air and noise pollution since, according to the study, if the reduction in NO2 registered during the first confinement had been sustained for a whole year, in Barcelona it would have been possible to prevent 5 % of myocardial infarctions, 6% of strokes and 11% of depressions.
In Vienna, the estimated decreases would be 1% for strokes and heart attacks and 2% for depressions; and in Stockholm only 1% of depression diagnoses would have been prevented.
The long-term impact that improvements in noise levels would have had in Barcelona is estimated to have prevented 4% of annual myocardial infarctions, 7% of strokes and 4% of diagnosed depressions.
In Vienna it would have been possible to reduce the incidence of heart attacks, strokes and depression by 1%, and in Stockholm there would have been a 2% reduction in diagnoses of myocardial infarction and depression and 4% of stroke.
“Despite differences across the three cities, the pattern is that the health benefits from improved air quality and noise may not outweigh the profoundly negative effects of falling physical activity levels. “, concluded ISGlobal researcher Sarah Koch.
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