Psychological Wellbeing and Perceived Fatigue in Competitive Athletes after SARS-CoV-2 Infection 2 Years after Pandemic Start: Practical Indications.

Andrea Buonsenso, Arianna Murri, Marco Centorbi, Giulia Di Martino, Giuseppe Calcagno, Alessandra di Cagno, Giovanni Fiorilli, Enzo Iuliano
Author Information
  1. Andrea Buonsenso: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, v. De Sanctis 1, 86100 Campobasso, Italy. ORCID
  2. Arianna Murri: Department of Motor, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Lauro de Bosis Square 15, 00197 Rome, Italy. ORCID
  3. Marco Centorbi: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, v. De Sanctis 1, 86100 Campobasso, Italy. ORCID
  4. Giulia Di Martino: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, v. De Sanctis 1, 86100 Campobasso, Italy. ORCID
  5. Giuseppe Calcagno: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, v. De Sanctis 1, 86100 Campobasso, Italy. ORCID
  6. Alessandra di Cagno: Department of Motor, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome "Foro Italico", Lauro de Bosis Square 15, 00197 Rome, Italy.
  7. Giovanni Fiorilli: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Molise, v. De Sanctis 1, 86100 Campobasso, Italy. ORCID
  8. Enzo Iuliano: Department of Theoretical and Applied Sciences, eCampus University, 22060 Novedrate, Italy. ORCID

Abstract

The COVID-19 Pandemic deeply affected sports and athletes, influencing performance and psychological wellbeing. In order to provide useful guidelines for coaches, a web-based survey was conducted. Three web-based questionnaires were administered during the last phase of the Omicron wave to a total of 204 Italian athletes (age 24.96 ± 9.82): an informative questionnaire to collect sociodemographic data and infection symptoms information, the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). No differences between infection sequels of different variant typologies were found over the long term after the infection. The most frequently declared symptoms included cough (50%), muscular skeletal impairments (48%) Fatigue (43%) and fever (43%). Results showed that female athletes have a higher risk of developing post-COVID-19 symptoms, GHQ-12 worse results ( = 0.005) and greater Fatigue ( = 0.0002) than males. No significant difference in infection incidence between high- and low-level athletes was found. Endurance athletes showed greater perceived Fatigue than anaerobic sports athletes ( = 0.045). Conclusions: These results suggested the need for specific approaches and continuous updating to differentiate training programs for different athletes during the return to play. Medical controls and daily monitoring of athletes of all levels after the infection could be advisable.

Keywords

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