Physical Activity Patterns in the Elderly Kashan Population

Abstract

BackgroundPhysical activity is an important component of health in old age that provides personal independence, physical ability, and quality of life.ObjectivesThe current study aimed to evaluate physical activity and associated factors among the elderly population in Kashan, Iran.Patients and MethodsThis is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample was 400 elderly people (aged more than 60 years) living in Kashan, Iran in 2014. The subjects randomly selected via multi-stage cluster sampling from healthcare centers in three regions of Kashan. The sample size differed by gender and residence type. Each participant’s demographic characteristics and level of physical activity were recorded in a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, Pearson correlations, and ordinal regression were used in the data analysis. The significance level for all the tests was P < 0.05.Results237 (59.2%) of the subjects were female. The average age of the study population was 67.6 ± 6.8 years. Their average physical activity energy consumption was 326.21 ± 364.84 according to the metabolic equivalent of hours per week. 20 subjects (5%) reported no physical activity. 320 (80%) and 59 (14.8%) subjects had low and moderate physical activity levels, respectively. Only 1 subject (0.2%) had extreme levels of physical activity. Men (n = 43, 26.4%) were more likely to be moderately or extremely physically active than women were (n = 17, 7.2%). There was a significant relationship between physical activity and sex (P < 0.0001), marital status (P < 0.0001), educational status (P < 0.002), current occupation (P < 0.0001), and personal independence (P < 0.00001). Of course, effective predictive variations included age (P = 0.034), gender (P = 0.001), marital status (P = 0.033), independent status (P = 0), and local environment (P =0.001).ConclusionsThe study revealed low physical activity in the elderly population in Kashan. The pattern of physical activity in the elderly depends on their lifestyle. A promotion of active lifestyles should be a part of health care planning for the elderly.

A cross-sectional study to investigate motivation for physical activity in a sample of Iranian community-dwelling older adults

“…16 In terms of gender differences, a body of research shows that women are less likely to participate in PA than men. For example, in a quantitative study about older adults, also comprised of data from self-administered questionnaires, women were found to be less physically active than men, due to personal and environmental restrictions related to PA. 24 The authors' results are also in line with an Iranian quantitative study that reported a significant relationship between PA, marital status, and gender, but in contrast with our study, that study found significant relationships between PA, age, educational level, and health status, 25 perhaps due to the difference between demographic characteristics of the two samples. Another cause of this inconsistency may be related to the fact that this study included a sample of physically active older adults who were found in parks.…”

Study of Cardiovascular Factors, Quality of Life and Body Composition in Physically Active and Sedentary Women

“…The results of the study showed that active elderly women had higher physical health than sedentary elderly women. The results of this study were consistent with Sadrollahi et al, Giuli et al and Ghasemzadeh et al (2013), which showed that decreased BMI could promote all subscales of quality of life [3,26,27] , but not consistent with the findings of Fabrie et al and Trif et al [28,29] . One of the issues that could contribute substantially to improving the quality of life of the elderly is regular and continuous physical activity.…”

“…The results of our research showed active elderly women had higher social relationships than elderly women with compatatively lower physical activity. The results of this study were consistent with the studies of Ghasemzadeh et al and Kouzechian et al [26,35] but were not consistent with the study of Azin et al [36] . Aging has unique physical, mental and social characteristics.…”

Relationship Between Regular Physical Activity and Transtheoretical Model Components Among Members of Municipality Councils in Selected Districts of Tehran

“…According to the world health organization (2009), more than 60% of the world population do not have physical activities of moderate intensity (6). Surveys conducted in Iran also showed that 80 percent of the Iranian people are physically inactive (7). According to some studies (e.g.…”