SELF-REPORTED PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF ELDERLY RESIDENTS IN WESTERN SLOVENIAN NURSING HOMES: A QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED APPROACH

Abstract

The number of older people (65+ years) in the European Union is expected to reach 130 million by 2050. Regular physical activity has considerable benefits for health and physical functioning in the elderly population. The aim of the study was to evaluate the amount and intensity of self-reported physical activity expressed as energy consumption in a sample of 131 older individuals (aged 83.8 ± 7.6 years, 69% women) living in nursing homes by using the Minnesota Leisure Time Physical Activity Questionnaire. 109 participants reported to perform leisure time physical activity. Only 7.6% of them fulfilled the criteria for low physical activity proposed by Fried et al. (2001). The median energy expenditure (168.5 (IRQ=128.6) kcal/day) also exceeded the cut-off points for low activity. 54% of the participants stated that they perform the so-called heavy physical activity determined in a questionnaire with an intensity code 6 kcal/min or above. The questionnaire-based findings regarding physical activity in nursing homes are in terms of frailty encouraging but they should be verified against a more objective method for physical activity evaluation such as the use of accelerometers.