Abstract
BackgroundPhysical activity (PA) in older people is critically important in the prevention of disease, maintenance of independence and improvement of quality of life. Little is known about the physical activity of the older adults or their compliance with current physical activity guidelines.MethodsA systematic literature search of the published literature was conducted. Included were published reports of original research that independently reported: the PA level of non-institutional older adults (aged 60 years and over); and the proportion of older adults in the different samples who met PA recommendations or guidelines. The review was restricted to studies published since 2000 to provide a current picture of older adults’ PA levels.ResultsFifty three papers were included in the review. The percentage of older adults meeting recommended physical activity ranged from 2.4 – 83.0% across the studies. Definitions of “recommended” physical activity in older adults varied across the studies as did approaches to measurement which posed methodological challenges to data analysis. Older age groups were less likely than the reference group to be regularly active, and women were less likely than men to achieve regular physical activity, especially leisure time physical activity, when measured by both subjective and objective criteria.ConclusionThe review highlights the need for studies which recruit representative random samples of community based older people and employ validated measurement methods consistently to enable comparison of PA levels over time and between countries.
Highlights
Physical activity (PA) in older people is critically important in the prevention of disease, maintenance of independence and improvement of quality of life
There is no known review of PA among older people and it is not known whether active older people comply with recommended PA levels
Most of the studies were conducted in the United States and Australia (USA n=19; Australia n=10; UK n=5; Brazil n=4; China n=4; Canada n=4; New Zealand n=1; Colombia n=1; South Africa n=1; Greece and Cyprus n=1; Cyprus n=1; Sweden n=1; Switzerland n=1)
Summary
Physical activity (PA) in older people is critically important in the prevention of disease, maintenance of independence and improvement of quality of life. Little is known about the physical activity of the older adults or their compliance with current physical activity guidelines. Regular physical activity (PA) can bring significant health benefits to people of all ages and the need for PA does not end in later life with evidence increasingly indicating that PA can extend years of active independent living, reduce disability and improve the quality of life for older people [1]. Increasing PA will help minimise the burden on health and social care through enabling healthy ageing [3,4]. There is no known review of PA among older people and it is not known whether active older people comply with recommended PA levels.
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