How the relationship between physical activity and health changes with age

An Exploratory Study of Bone Health Among Native Hawaiian Women in Rural Hawai'i

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study was to obtain baseline data on bone mass density for Native Hawaiian women and to better understand the socio-cultural context for assessing bone health and risk of osteoporosis for this underserved population.

METHOD

A sequential mixed-method design guided by Leininger's Culture Care Theory of Diversity and Universality consisted of two phases: (a) an initial exploratory focus group and (b) dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans and individual interviews. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Phase a (n = 12) suggested that Native Hawaiian women have limited knowledge of bone health, but recognize traditional and cultural ways of health. Phase b (n = 50) showed that Native Hawaiian women have healthy bones, according to the T-score results. The interviews suggested that perspectives of bone health are culturally anchored.

DISCUSSION

Understanding cultural values and practices are vital for care. Preliminary recommendations for health professionals are included.

Sustainable Health-Related Quality of Life in Older Adults as Supported by the vINCI Technology

The vINCI technology represents an innovative instrument developed specifically but not exclusively for older adults by technology researchers together with a medical team specialized in geriatrics and gerontology. It was designed to be independently and effortlessly used by older adults in the comfort and safety of their own environment. It is a modular and flexible platform that can integrate a large array of various sensors and can easily adapt to specific healthcare needs. The pilot study tested sensors and standardized instruments capable of evaluating several care-related parameters and of generating personalized feedback for the user dedicated to optimizing physical activity level, social interaction, and health-related quality of life. Moreover, the system was able to detect and signal events and health-related aspects that would require medical assistance. This paper presents how the innovative vINCI technology improves quality of life in older adults. This is evidenced by the results obtained following the clinical validation of the vINCI technology by older adults admitted to the Ana Aslan National Institute of Gerontology and Geriatrics (NIGG) in Bucharest.

The Role of Personality in Prediction of Satisfaction With Life in Recreational Athletes During the First Wale of Pandemic Covid-19

The aim of this research is to contribute to the understanding of the concept of satisfaction with life by determining the relationship between personality traits and the subjective experience of satisfaction with life in students—recreational athletes. This research is based on the biological theory of personality by Hans Eysenck and it attempts to offer explanations of a possible change in satisfaction with life in the period of great social deprivation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The sample of subjects consisted of 120 undergraduate students (N = 120) of all years and both sexes, 55 (45.8%) males and 65 (54.2%) females, at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, the University of Nis. The average age of the subjects was 23.63 years (SD = 2.070). Eysenck's personality questionnaire (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, EPQ: Eysenck et al., 1885, adapted and translated by Šipka, 1985) was used for the operationalization of personality structure. The SWLS scale (Satisfaction With Life Scale, Diener et al., 1985) was used for estimating satisfaction with life. A significant regression model, which explains 11% of variance in the subjective experience of satisfaction with life in recreational athletes, was obtained. In the model, extraversion stands out as a significant predictor from the group of personality traits (β = 0.279). Neuroticism (β = −0.160) and psychoticism (β = −0.122) did not prove to be significant predictors of satisfaction with life in the structural model regardless of there being a significant negative correlation between neuroticism and satisfaction with life. The more extraverted participants had a keener subjective sense of satisfaction with life.

Patterns of sports involvement in Spain

AbstractIn a context of a rise in physical inactivity, this paper aims to provide new insights about the relationship between different forms of sport engagements and their correlates, analysing, for the first time, both active and passive sport involvement for a large sample of individuals. Applying the cluster technique, we identify four different segments of sports involvement among the Spanish population: non-sporty, exclusively practitioner, balanced practitioner, and basically spectator. Also, we develop a multinomial logit model to analyse the main sociodemographic, physical, and sports features that could increase the individual sport involvement, from the non-sporty segment, which assembles the highest number of individuals, to the other clusters. Most of the variables under analysis show a different impact on sport involvement: some of them stimulate active participation (e.g. being member of private sport clubs), whereas others mainly encourage sport attendance (e.g. readers and listeners of sport news, children in the household), and other variables boost sport engagement in general (e.g. being male, educational level, health status, e-sports). The results may have significant implications in terms of developing a general perspective about sport engagement, including both active and passive participation. Particularly, our findings suggest that active and passive sport engagement do not seem to be negatively associated and they can coexist at different levels.

Investigating self-perceived health and quality of life: a longitudinal prospective study among beginner recreational exercisers in a fitness club setting

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated self-perception of overall health (SPH) and quality of life (QoL) at onset and after 3, 6 and 12 months of fitness club membership. Also, we compared SPH and QoL between those who reported regular use of the fitness club (≥2 exercise sessions/week the last month) with those who did not (one exercise session/week or no exercise the last month).

DESIGN

Longitudinal prospective study.

SETTING

25 fitness clubs in Oslo, Norway.

PARTICIPANTS

In total, 250 newly registered fitness club members (equal numbers of men and women, mean age=36.4±11.3 years, mean body mass index=25.7±4.4) were recruited. At onset (n=250), after 3 (n=224), 6 (n=213) and 12 months (n=187), the participants answered an electronic questionnaire, covering background variables, exercise involvement, perceived SPH and QoL.

OUTCOME MEASURES

SPH was measured by a single-item question, rating health status from poor to excellent on a 5-point scale. High SPH was dichotomised as excellent or good, and low SPH as moderate, fair or poor. QoL was measured on a 7-item scale, rating five statements and dichotomised according to a total max sum score of 35, with low QoL ≤25 and high QoL >25.

RESULTS

Repeated measurements did not show any changes in SPH. In QoL, we observed an improvement in QoL sum score and a significant increase in mean scores for two out of five statements at 12 months follow-up: 'In most ways, my life is close to my ideal' (p=0.036) and'If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing' (p<0.001). Regular use of the fitness club was associated with high SPH (OR 3.532 (95% CI 1.60-7.82), p=0.002) and high QoL (OR 1.914 (95% CI 0.95-3.86), p=0.069). The results were unchanged after adjusting for confounders.

CONCLUSION

Regular attendance at a fitness club was associated with high SPH and high QoL at 12 months follow-up.

A prospective study on the effect of self-reported health and leisure time physical activity on mortality among an ageing population: results from the Tromsø study

Background

The prevailing Western ideal of ageing in place, with the option to stay at home as one ages, has led to the development of physical activity guidelines for people of advanced age to increase their quality of life and promote their functional abilities. This study investigates the effect of self-reported health and physical activity on mortality and examines how levels of age-specific physical activity affect self-reported health trajectories in an ageing cohort.

Methods

The sample cohort of the population-based Tromsø Study consists of 24,309 participants aged 25–97 years at baseline. This study involved a survival analysis from 1994 to 2015 and included those who completed two or more surveys (n = 12,241) between 1994 and 2008. The purpose was to examine the relationship between physical activity and self-reported health throughout life using a random coefficient model analysis.

Results

Being sedentary was associated with an increased risk of mortality in the ageing cohort. Subjects who reported neither light physical activity nor hard physical activity had a 57% (OR 1.57, 1.07–2.31) increased risk of all-cause death. Both hard (OR 2.77, 2.35–3.26) and light (OR 1.52, 1.32–1.76) physical activity were positively associated with self-reported health. The effect was age dependent. Vigorous physical activity was most beneficial for individuals younger than 40 years old, while moderate physical activity levels prolonged the period in which good self-reported health was likely.

Conclusions

Poor self-reported health and being sedentary were independently associated with an increased risk of mortality in the participants. Furthermore, physical activity prolonged the period of good self-reported health among older adults in two ways: physical activity habits from early adulthood and onwards were beneficial to self-reported health at an advanced age, and self-reported health was dependent on engagement in moderate intensity physical activity after approximately 65 years of age.