Change in outdoor walking behavior during the coronavirus disease pandemic in Japan: A longitudinal study

Background Due to the high infectivity and seriousness of coronavirus disease, people’s daily activities were restricted in countries worldwide; governments implemented lockdown measures and advised individuals to perform self-restraint in terms of leaving the house. However, there have been few scientific reports on the effects of such behavioral restrictions on walking parameters. Research question Did behavioral restrictions during the state of emergency in Japan effect walking parameters in daily life outdoor walking? Methods In this retrospective cohort study, four walking parameters, namely, the average number of steps taken, walking speed, step length, and cadence, were measured using a smartphone application among 3901 participants (mean age ± standard deviation: 60.3 ± 28.9 years) from March 2 to June 15 in both 2019 and 2020. Repeated-measures two-way analysis of variance was used to compare the walking parameters between the two years. Results The number of steps significantly decreased (p