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The relationship between expectations for aging and physical activity among older adults

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: New strategies to increase physical activity among sedentary older adults are urgently needed.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether low expectations regarding aging (age-expectations) are associated with low physical activity levels among older adults.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey.

PARTICIPANTS: Six hundred and thirty-six English- and Spanish-speaking adults aged 65 years and above attending 14 community-based senior centers in the Los Angeles region. Over 44% were non-Latino whites, 15% were African American, and 36% were Latino. The mean age was 77 years (range 65 to 100).

MEASUREMENTS: Self-administered written surveys including previously tested measures of age-expectations and physical activity level in the previous week.

RESULTS: Over 38% of participants reported <30 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity in the previous week. Older adults with lower age-expectations were more likely to report this very low level of physical activity than those with high age-expectations, even after controlling for the independent effect of age, sex, ethnicity, level of education, physical and mental health-related quality of life, comorbidity, activities of daily living impairment, depressive symptoms, self-efficacy, survey language, and clustering at the senior center. Compared with the quintile of participants having the highest age-expectations, participants with the lowest quintile of age-expectations had an adjusted odds ratio of 2.6 (95% confidence intervals: 1.5, 4.5) of reporting <30 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity in the previous week.

CONCLUSIONS: In this diverse sample of older adults recruited from senior centers, low age-expectations are independently associated with very low levels of physical activity. Harboring low age-expectations may act as a barrier to physical activity among sedentary older adults.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Ill, USA

    Thomas R. Prohaska PhD

  2. Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, Calif, USA

    Mitchell D. Wong MD, PhD & Carol M. Mangione MD, MSPH

  3. Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10945 Le Conte Avenue, Suite 2339, 90095-1687, Los Angeles, CA

    Catherine A. Sarkisian MD, MSPH & Susan Hirsch MPH

Authors
  1. Catherine A. Sarkisian MD, MSPH
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  2. Thomas R. Prohaska PhD
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  3. Mitchell D. Wong MD, PhD
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  4. Susan Hirsch MPH
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  5. Carol M. Mangione MD, MSPH
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catherine A. Sarkisian MD, MSPH.

Additional information

This work could not have been completed without the generous cooperation of our partners at 14 community senior centers: Baldwin Park Community Center, Claude Pepper Senior Center, Culver City Senior Center, Cheviot Hills Senior Citizens’ Club, City of Commerce Senior Center, Dollarhide Neighborhood Center of Compton, Joslyn Adult Center of Burbank, Mar Vista Senior Citizen Center, Montebello Senior Center, Mt. Carmel Senior Center, Santa Fe Springs Neighborhood Center, South El Monte Senior Center, Theresa Lindsay Senior Center, and Wilmington Senior Citizens Multi-Purpose Center.

Support for Dr. Sarkisian was provided by a Paul B. Beeson Career Development Award from the National Institute of Aging (1K23 AG024811), and the UCLA Mentored Clinical Scientist Program (K12) in Geriatrics, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Aging (AG01004). Support for Dr. Prohaska was provided by University of Illinois at Chicago Healthy Aging Research Network Center (SIP5-01) Center for Disease Control and Prevention U48/CCU 509661. Support for Dr. Mangione was provided by the UCLA Center for Health Improvement in Minority Elders/Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Aging (AG-02-004).

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Sarkisian, C.A., Prohaska, T.R., Wong, M.D. et al. The relationship between expectations for aging and physical activity among older adults. J GEN INTERN MED 20, 911–915 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0204.x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.0204.x

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