Psychosocial and Environmental Correlates of Physical Activity Among Korean Older Adults

Abstract

This study aimed to identify differences in individual, social, and physical environmental factors across the stages of physical activity and explore the effect of those variables on physical activity among older adults. Two hundred and ninety adults aged over 65 years were recruited from the Seodaemun district of Seoul. Standardized scales were used to measure physical activity, stage of change, self-efficacy, decisional balance, social support, and the physical environment. The results indicated that 70.7% of older adults engaged in regular physical activity. Based on the multivariate analysis of variance, only the psychological variables of self-efficacy and perceived benefits and the environmental variables of family support and the physical environment increased significantly across the stages of physical activity change. Based on the regression analysis, the most important predictors of physical activity in a descending order of significance were self-efficacy, perceived benefits, family support, and the physical environment. The total variance in physical activity explained by these variables was 40%.

The association between social support and physical activity in older adults: a systematic review

“…(Internal consistency Cronbach’s α = 0.75. )General perceived SS.(General SS)Kim [68]South KoreaXS29030% male[65-89 years]68.6 (4.4)SR: Leisure time PA scale [99] Habitual weekly PA. Greater than 15 mins.…”

The validity and reliability of the Malay version of the social support for exercise and physical environment for physical activity scales

“…The revised version consisted of five items: three items assessing availability and access to physical activity facilities and two items assessing the quality of physical activity facilities. The study participants rated their perceptions of each statement, such as "my residential area offers enough facilities for me to be physically active", with five-point response options ranging between 1 (not true at all) and 5 (definitely true) [11]. Also, a two-week, test-retest reliability coefficient was reported as .91 [25].…”

“…The initial specified measurement model for physical environment comprised of five items and two factors consistent with previous studies [11,25,26]: the availability of exercise facilities (three items) and the quality of exercise facilities (two items). The results of the initial specified measurement model (Model-1) show poor fit indices (Table 2).…”

“…These two scales were translated into the Korean language and confirmed to be valid and reliable measures for assessing participants' perceptions regarding social support for exercise and available physical environment for physical activity [25]. The validity and reliability of these translated versions were supported by other researchers [11,26]. The social support and physical environment scales have been translated into and verified in other languages, including Chinese [27] and Japanese [15].…”

“…The social ecological model created by Bronfenbrennner [9] has been the most employed model by researchers to illustrate and identify factors associated with physical activity participation [10,11]. According to this model, the social environment (e.g., family support, friends support, social norms, and cultural background) along with the physical environment (e.g., perceived availability and quality of exercise facilities) plays a vital role in influencing and maintaining physical activity participation [2,8].…”