Physical Activity Patterns in the Elderly Kashan Population
نویسندگان
1 Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran
2 Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran
3 Trauma Nursing Research Center, Department of Medical Surgical Nursing, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran
doi
چکیده
Background: Physical activity is an important component of health in old age that provides personal independence, physical ability,and quality of life.Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate physical activity and associated factors among the elderly population in Kashan,Iran.Patients and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study. The sample was 400 elderly people (aged more than 60 years)living in Kashan, Iran in 2014. The subjects randomly selected via multi-stage cluster sampling from healthcare centers in threeregions of Kashan. The sample size differed by gender and residence type. Each participant’s demographic characteristics and levelof physical activity were recorded in a questionnaire, and the data were analyzed by SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics, chi-squaretests, Pearson correlations, and ordinal regression were used in the data analysis. The significance level for all the tests was P < 0.05.Results: 237 (59.2%) of the subjects were female. The average age of the study population was 67.66.8 years. Their average physicalactivity energy consumption was 326.21364.84 according to the metabolic equivalent of hours per week. 20 subjects (5%) reportedno physical activity. 320 (80%) and 59 (14.8%) subjects had low and moderate physical activity levels, respectively. Only 1 subject(0.2%) had extreme levels of physical activity. Men (n = 43, 26.4%) were more likely to be moderately or extremely physically activethan women were (n = 17, 7.2%). There was a significant relationship between physical activity and sex (P < 0.0001), marital status (P< 0.0001), educational status (P < 0.002), current occupation (P < 0.0001), and personal independence (P < 0.00001). Of course,effective predictive variations included age (P = 0.034), gender (P = 0.001), marital status (P = 0.033), independent status (P = 0), andlocal environment (P =0.001).Conclusions: The study revealed low physical activity in the elderly population in Kashan. The pattern of physical activity in theelderly depends on their lifestyle. A promotion of active lifestyles should be a part of health care planning for the elderly.
