COVID-19 and Physical Activity Behaviour in People with Neurological Diseases: A Systematic Review.
COVID-19 lockdowns cut physical activity in people with neurological diseases, worsening symptoms and mood—have a remote-movement plan ready.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Zuhal et al. (2022) looked at 14 studies about people with neurological diseases during COVID-19. They wanted to know if lockdowns changed how much people moved each day.
The studies covered dementia, Parkinson’s, stroke, and other brain conditions. Together they included 7,662 participants.
What they found
Every study showed the same thing: physical activity dropped. Less walking, less therapy, less exercise.
When activity went down, symptoms got worse. People also felt more depressed and anxious.
How this fits with other research
The drop lines up with what Pittas et al. (2023) saw in students with special needs. They found homework and IEP goals also slipped during lockdowns.
Jung-He et al. (2025) give hope. Kids who kept getting ABA kept small gains in social and daily skills. The message: keep services running, even from a distance.
Before COVID, Ku et al. (2020) showed that when parents join in, kids move more. Zuhal’s review warns we lost that boost when programs closed.
Why it matters
Less movement means more falls, faster decline, and sharper mood drops in clients with neurological diagnoses. Build backup plans now: home exercise menus, parent-led walking schedules, or short video sessions. If clinics shut again, you can hand families a ready kit and keep skills alive.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Email each client a 10-minute daily movement menu (sit-to-stand, hallway walk, arm circles) and add it to the behavior-plan data sheet.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
UNLABELLED: The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a radical lifestyle change, which may unintendedly change physical activity levels. We aimed to perform a systematic review to investigate the physical activity changes in people with neurological diseases, and to examine the relationship between physical activity and disease symptoms, and psychosocial factors. The review was performed in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. A systematic search of the literature across five databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Web of Science, SCOPUS, and Cochrane Library) was carried out using the keywords relating to COVID-19, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, exercise, and the name of the neurological diseases. The systematic search was updated on 4 February 2021 with the same keywords. Fourteen studies (n = 7662 persons with neurological diseases, n = 1663 healthy controls) were eligible for this review. The study populations were Parkinson disease (n = 7), dementia (n = 1), multiple sclerosis (n = 1), spinal cord injury (n = 1), hereditary spastic paraplegia (n = 1), neuromuscular diseases (n = 1), Charcot-Marie-Tooth neuropathy (n = 1), and epilepsy (n = 1). Thirteen studies reported a decreased physical activity level, one study reported a high interruption rate of physiotherapy/rehabilitation. Furthermore, the physical activity reduction was associated with worse disease symptoms, depression, perceived health, and mental and physical components of quality of life. The COVID-19 pandemic has a negative impact on the physical activity levels of people with neurological diseases, and this change was related to the worsening of disease symptoms and psychosocial factors. Registration number A protocol of the review was registered with the PROSPERO database (CRD42020207676). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10882-022-09836-x.
Journal of developmental and physical disabilities, 2022 · doi:10.1016/j.smhs.2020.05.006