ABSTRACT
Introduction and Objectives Multiple factors, such as diet and physical activity, are involved in the pathogenesis of fatty liver associated with metabolic dysfunction (MAFLD). After confinement by COVID-19, interest has arisen to study its effect on the population. This study aimed to describe the impact of changes in physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic on the progression of MAFLD. Materials and Methods Observational, analytical, retrospective, longitudinal and comparative study in patients with MAFLD from the Instituto de Investigations Médico Biologicals of the Universidad Veracruzana. The information was obtained from a database from which values of steatosis, fibrosis and degree of physical activity measured by IPAQ were obtained. Student's t-test for related samples was used for numerical variables. Results Thirty-four patients were studied, of which 15 were excluded due to incomplete records. Nineteen patients were included;the mean age was 60.42±8.1 years, female sex was predominant (57.9%). Initial somatometric data are described in Table 1. A significant increase in physical activity in minutes per week was observed (p=0.037), as well as the reduction of intrahepatic fat after the pandemic (Fig.1). Conclusions The results demonstrate that during the COVID-19 pandemic, our population increased physical activity, which resulted in an improvement in hepatic steatosis significantly. Funding The resources used in this study were from the hospital without any additional financing Declaration of interest The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.