Abstract
BackgroundThe promotion of physical activity (PA) plays a major role for healthy ageing even in older age. There is a lack of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies explicitly dealing with barriers and drivers to PA in older adults. Therefore the aims of this study are a) to determine the prevalence of insufficient physical activity (IPA) in 65 to 75-year-olds in Europe and to identify factors associated with IPA in cross-section and b) to identify longitudinal risk factors for IPA in prior active persons.MethodsThis study is using data of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). SHARE is a cross-national panel database including individual data of the non-institutionalised population aged 50+ from 27 European countries. For the present paper, we included a cohort that participated in all first four waves of SHARE (2004–2011) aged 65-to-75–years at wave four (male n = 1761, female n = 2085) from 10 European countries. To identify cross-sectional and longitudinal associations, we calculated prevalence odds ratios and hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals.ResultsThe prevalence of IPA in 65–75-year-olds varied widely between countries, ranging from 55.4% to 83.3% in women and from 46.6% to 73.7% in men. IPA was associated with several intrapersonal factors and strength of association was similar for men and women for almost all investigated factors. Statistically significant associated with IPA were socioeconomic factors as low educational level (own and parental) and financial difficulties (male: POR: 1.60: 95%-CI: 1.26–2.03; female: POR: 1.58; 95%-CI: 1.26–1.97) and health-related factors as e.g. number of chronic diseases (male: POR: 1.34: 95%-CI: 1.23–1.45; female: POR: 1.31; 95%-CI: 1.21–1.42). Interpersonal only the size of social network was associated with IPA (male and female: POR: 0.88, 95%-CI: 0.81–0.95). Longitudinally in a fully adjusted model, only grip strength (HR: 0.99; CI-95%: 0.98–0.99) and BMI (HR: 1.02; CI-95%: 1.00–1.04) were statistically significant risk factors for IPA.ConclusionsPA promotion programs for older adults should incorporate the heterogeneity of health status and physical condition that can typically occur in this age group.
Highlights
The promotion of physical activity (PA) plays a major role for healthy ageing even in older age
The feared impact of demographic change could be mitigated by healthy ageing, as older adults in good health remain longer at work or can play an active role in society through volunteer activities [3]
The aims of this study are a) to determine the prevalence insufficient physical activity (IPA) in 65 to 75-year-olds in Europe and to identify factors associated with IPA in this age group and b) to identify longitudinal risk factors for IPA in prior active persons using the data of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)
Summary
The promotion of physical activity (PA) plays a major role for healthy ageing even in older age. The feared impact of demographic change could be mitigated by healthy ageing, as older adults in good health remain longer at work or can play an active role in society through volunteer activities [3]. Physical activity (PA) is essential for the skeletal, muscular- and digestive systems and for circulation [4]. In this context, PA plays a major role as it can increase life expectancy, daily living skills, overall well-being and quality of life [5,6,7,8]. Regular PA can still improve mental and physical health and positively affect the general ageing process [4, 5]
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