Characteristics of physical health conditions in middle-aged and elderly joggers.

Abstract

To clarify the characteristics of physical health conditions in middle-aged and elderly joggers who run regularly, they were compared with middle-aged and elderly people who did not exercise routinely. The physical health conditions were investigated by a questionnaire survey sent by mail. The subjects were 316 joggers (230 men and 86 women) and 272 non-joggers (173 men and 99 women). The number of joggers having any illness was lower than that of non-joggers in both men and women. In contrast, there was no significant difference in type of illness between joggers and non-joggers. Concerning symptoms, the number of joggers who complained of lumbar pain and shoulder stiffness was low, but the number of joggers with symptoms including knee joint pain and muscle pain as well as injury was high compared to non-joggers. While the results of this study reconfirm that continuous jogging in middle-aged and elderly people may effectively improve their physical condition, based on the finding that the morbidity was low, it appears that many joggers have knee joint pain, a typical disorder due to running.