Physical activity levels and related energy expenditure during COVID-19 quarantine among the sicilian active population: A cross-sectional online survey study

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the Italian government has adopted containment measures to control the virus's spread, including limitations to the practice of physical activity (PA). The aim of this study was to estimate the levels of PA, expressed as energy expenditure (MET-minute/week), among the physically active Sicilian population before and during the last seven days of the COVID-19 quarantine. Furthermore, the relation between this parameter and specific demographic and anthropometric variables was analyzed. Methods: 802 Sicilian physically active participants (mean age: 32.27 ± 12.81 years; BMI: 23.44 ± 3.33 kg/m2) were included in the study and grouped based on gender, age and BMI. An adapted version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form (IPAQ-SF) was administered to the participants through an online survey. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Kruskal-Wallis rank-sum test were used for statistical analyses. Results: As expected, we observed a significant decrease of the total weekly energy expenditure during the COVID-19 quarantine (p < 0.001). A significant variation in the MET-min/wk in the before quarantine condition (p = 0.046) and in the difference between before and during quarantine (p = 0.009) was found for males and females. The male group decreased the PA level more than the female one. Moreover, a significant difference in the MET-min/wk was found among groups distributions of BMI (p < 0.001, during quarantine) and of age (p < 0.001, both before and during quarantine). In particular, the highest and the lowest levels of PA were reported by the young and the elderly, respectively, both before and during quarantine. Finally, the overweight group showed the lowest level of PA during quarantine. Conclusion: Based on our outcomes, we can determine that the current quarantine has negatively affected the practice of PA, with greater impacts among males and overweight subjects. In regards to different age groups, the young, young adults and adults were more affected than senior adults and the elderly

The Analysis of Large-scale Retail Trade Groups Customer Satisfaction: A Comparison Between CAPI and PAPI Data Collection Methods

Computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) and similar electronic survey data collection methods seem to improve both technical and economical efficiency and data quality. Compared to traditional paper and pencil interviewing (PAPI) CAPI is affected by some shortcomings yet. At the end, the selection of one among many data collection methods has to be justified in terms of a profitable ratio between scientific and organizational costs and benefits. In this paper we discuss the (quasi)experimental design arranged in order to assess the differential effects of face-to-face paper and computer assisted interviewing in terms of efficacy, efficiency and the production of non-sampling errors. The research ground is constituted by the analysis of customer satisfaction within a large-scale retail trade group owning many shops in Sicily

Il ruolo della donna tra lavoro familiare ed extrafamiliare: il caso di una provincia siciliana

Il presente lavoro, basato sui dati di un'indagine campionaria sulla condizione femminile, si propone di approfondire, attraverso adeguate metodologie di analisi statistica multivariata, alcuni aspetti comportamentali. Sulle unit\ue0 di analisi, rappresentate dalle donne aventi pi\uf9 di 14 anni, che sono mogli/madri oppure vivono da sole, vengono studiate le aree di produzione per il mercato del lavoro, quelle di riproduzione familiare ed infine quelle relative alle attivit\ue0 socio culturali. Nell'ambito di tali aree ci si propone di esplorare alcuni atteggiamenti della donna in funzione delle caratteristiche del nucleo familiare di appartenenza. Fatta eccezione per alcune variabili socio-demografiche, la maggior parte di quelle derivanti dalle risposte alle domande dell'intervista, sono di tipo qualitativo ordinabile. I dati selezionati e opportunamente trasformati su scala metrica, sono stati sottoposti a procedura di analisi multidimensionale (analisi delle corrispondenze, dei fattori, ecc.)

Aspetti e qualit\ue0 delle statistiche sul turismo: effetti distorcenti tra misura e utilizzo di alcune statistiche

Si affronta il tema della qualit\ue0 delle statistiche sul turismo, mettendo in evidenza la mancata corrispondenza tra arrivi e turisti, e proponendo alcune soluzioni per la stima del numero dei turisti attraverso l'ausilio di informazioni ausiliarie