Correlates of walking time by exercise stage of change in older adults in Japan: The 2019 JAGES cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives Some older adults less interested in exercise may still meet the walking time of 30 minutes or more per day that is required to maintain and improve their health. This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of those who walk for 30 minutes or more per day stratified by the exercise stage of change.Methods This cross-sectional study used a self-administered mail survey conducted by the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study (JAGES) in 2019. There were 45,939 participants, aged 65 years or above, who were not certified as requiring long-term care and who resided in 62 municipalities in 24 prefectures. The measures included daily walking time, stage of change for exercise (20 minutes or more once a week), and factors related to physical activities (eight demographic and biological; three psychological, cognitive, and emotional; eight behavioral; 40 social and cultural; and three environmental factors). The analysis was stratified into three groups according to the transformation stages: 1) pre-contemplation, 2) contemplation/preparation, and 3) action/maintenance. Poisson regression analysis was conducted with the dependent variable as walking time, the independent variables as physical activity factors, and the covariates as all eight demographic and biological factors.Results Of the 24,146 survey respondents (52.6% response rate), 18,464 were included in the analysis. Surveys with missing items that were important for the analysis and patients who needed care and assistance were excluded. The factors that were significantly associated with walking 30 minutes or more per day only in the pre-contemplation stage, or only in the precontemplation and the contemplation/preparation stages, were three demographic and biological (married; age 80 years or above and non-independence of instrumental activities of daily living were negatively associated), two behavioral (going out at least once a week and watching sports on TV or the Internet), and six social and cultural factors (provision of instrumental support, frequency of meeting with friends more than once a week, participation in the neighborhood association, high reciprocity, reading habits; playing Go was negatively associated).Conclusions Among the demographic and biological factors, and the behavioral, social, and cultural factors, 11 items were found to be associated with walking 30 minutes or more per day only in the pre-contemplation stage, or only in the precontemplation and contemplation/preparation stages. To promote walking even in the lower stages of change, it may be useful to promote exchanges with others, rather than focusing predominantly on physical activities.