Accurately assessing physical activity behavior in children, older adults, and adults with functional limitations is essential to further our understanding of determinants of physical activity behavior in these populations, and to designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions designed to increase physical activity participation. Objective methodologies to assess physical activity behavior, due ...
Background Physical activity is essential for older peoples’ physical and mental health and for maintaining independence. Guidelines recommend at least 150 minutes weekly, of at least moderate intensity physical activity, with activity on most days. Older people’s most common physical activity is walking, light intensity if strolling, moderate if brisker. ...
Introduction
Regular physical activity (PA) in older adults is critically important to ensure healthy aging. The link between PA and prevention of disease, maintenance of independence, and improved quality of life is supported by strong evidence. However, there is a lack of data on population levels of PA among older ...
Background
Humans have an innate connection and attraction to nature, often referred to as ‘biophilia.’ Exposure to nature has been reported to have a positive impact on health, and several studies have documented that engaging in physical activity outdoors improves mental health and well being. Exact mechanisms remain unknown but ...
Background
The mechanisms underlying the cardia-protective effects of physical activity in older adults remain poorly understood. We examined the relationship between objectively measured physical activity during free-living and novel cardiac risk markers, including coronary artery calcium (CAC) and pericardial fat (PF).
Methods
Participants were 446 healthy men and women (mean age=66±6 ...
Introduction
Strategies to increase daily physical activity may be viewed as a mean to counteract the high prevalence of falls in elderly subjects, which is an important and increasing single factor associated with disability, injury and death. On the other hand when the elderly have reduced autonomy and consequent need ...
Background
Project OPAL (Older People and Active Living) was funded through Phase 1 of the National Prevention Research Initiative. Its primary aim was to describe the physical activity levels and patterns of adults aged 70 and over using accelerometry. Associations with deprivation of area of residence, perceptions of neighbourhood walkability, convenience and ...
Introduction
Most accelerometry research is in children and adults. Literature on accelerometry in older adults is limited and many studies rely on validity studies completed on younger adults to determine cutpoints for exercise intensity. The purpose of this study was: to review the literature to identify studies that used ActiGraph ...
Introduction
The Incidental and Planned Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), renamed to be IPEQ, is a self-report short questionnaire that was developed for use in ageing research. The questionnaire asks about an average week frequency and duration (closed categories) of planned exercise, walking for exercise, walking to places and chores inside and ...
The number of days of pedometer or accelerometer data needed to reliably assess physical activity (PA) is important for research that examines the relationship with health. While this important research has been completed in young to middle-aged adults, data is lacking in older adults. Further, data determining the number of ...