With the emergence of the Corona Virus – COVID-19 and its potential risks to society, the
orientation of social distancing has become, nowadays, one of the main measures for the
prevention of this disease. In contrast to the benefits of this prevention measure, there is the
hypothesis that physical distance may contribute to the emergence of motor and non-motor
complications in these individuals. Objective: to investigate the impact of social isolation due
to the COVID-19 pandemic on motor and non-motor aspects of daily life experiences of people
living with Parkinson’s disease in Amapá. Materials and methods: This is a cross-sectional
and analytical study with 27 individuals diagnosed with idiopathic PD in Amapá. Through a
telephone survey, the motor and non-motor impacts of social distancing, because of COVID-
19, were analyzed. The variables studied were characterized using the mean and standard
deviation, using the non-parametric Wilcoxon test. In the inferential analyses, a significance
level of 5% was considered. Results: Most participants were male, corresponding to 77% of
the total, with a mean age of 67.8 years (±10.02). The mean time of schooling was 10.1 years
(±4.93), the diagnosis of PD was 69.6 months (± 77.07) and isolation, at the time of the
interview, 7.3 weeks (± 1.82). The results demonstrate that the values of the variables of
cognition, fatigue and gait and balance significantly decreased (p < 0.01) when compared before
and after isolation. The mean value of cognition decreased from 1.11 (SD = 1.37) to -0.11 (SD
= 0.70) (p = 0.002); the mean value of fatigue decreased from 0.59 (SD = 0.89) to -0.19 (SD =
0.40) (p = 0.005); the mean value for gait and balance decreased from 1.11 (SD = 1.19) to -0.30
(SD = 0.54) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: There was clinical worsening in the non-motor and motor
aspects of cognition, fatigue, gait and balance due to the social distance caused by COVID-19.
The negative impact of social distancing on individuals with PD residing in Amapá may have
been aggravated by the reduction in the practice of physical activity and social participation.
More studies aimed at this population are needed to elucidate the suggested relationships.
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