The comparison of the lifestyle of vaccinated versus unvaccinated elite athletes during the Covid-19 pandemic: A multi-country comparison

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in global home confinement and quarantine, leading to the vaccination of societies worldwide. However, some elite athletes have negative views toward vaccination. This study aimed to compare the lifestyle of vaccinated versus unvaccinated international elite athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. From March to October 2021, an online survey was conducted, including socio-individual information of athletes, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the Rapid Eating Assessment for Participants (REAP-S), and the Petersburg Sleep Quality Questionnaire (PSQI). A total of 581 elite athletes from 4 continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, and America) and different countries, aged 18-35 years, were voluntarily recruited. Data analysis was performed using U-Mann-Whitney and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, with the level of significance set at alpha P<0.05. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the level of physical activity and eating behavior of vaccinated versus unvaccinated elite athletes (P<0.001). However, no significant difference was found between the quality of sleep among vaccinated and unvaccinated elite athletes (P=0.270). It was shown that, despite the unvaccinated status of some elite athletes (49.9%), their physical activity levels were higher than those of vaccinated elite athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the eating behavior of vaccinated elite athletes was better than that of unvaccinated elite athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was no significant difference in the quality of sleep between the groups.