Institute of movement sciences and sports medicine, Faculty of medicine, University of Geneva, Switzerland.
Swiss Med Wkly. 2013 Jan 7;143:w13710. doi: 10.4414/smw.2013.13710. eCollection 2013.
In affluent countries habitual physical activity (PA) levels are low while participation of middle-aged people in road running events is increasing. We compared PA determinants of runners aged 50+ to those of a general population sample of similar age in Switzerland.
Cross-sectional study comparing 580 road running event participants to 1,067 general population subjects. Binary logistic regression was used to predict group membership and multinomial logistic regression to describe relationships between regular PA levels, health and socio-economic status, adjusted for age, marital status and sex.
There was better health status, higher socio-economic position, less obesity and less depression in the runners than in the general population. People in self-reported "poor / very poor" and "good" health categories were less likely than the "excellent/very good" category to engage in vigorous regular PA compared to moderate regular PA.
Our findings confirm the association of PA with better health and higher socio-economic status in people aged 50+ but do not allow conclusions on causality. Further research and managerial effort should be expanded to develop programmes for the inactive population. New and existing prevention programmes should be undertaken to increase the awareness of target audiences. Popular road running events should be seen as having important public health potential and should be fostered.
在富裕国家，习惯性体力活动（PA）水平较低，而中年人群参加公路跑步活动的比例正在增加。我们比较了 50 岁以上跑步者和瑞士同龄普通人群样本的 PA 决定因素。
横断面研究比较了 580 名公路跑步活动参与者和 1067 名普通人群。使用二项逻辑回归预测组别的归属，使用多项逻辑回归描述经常进行 PA 水平、健康和社会经济地位之间的关系，调整年龄、婚姻状况和性别。
跑步者的健康状况较好，社会经济地位较高，肥胖和抑郁程度较低。与中度规律 PA 相比，自评“差/极差”和“好”健康状况的人群不太可能从事剧烈规律 PA。
我们的研究结果证实了 50 岁以上人群的 PA 与更好的健康和更高的社会经济地位之间的关联，但不能得出因果关系的结论。应进一步扩大研究和管理工作，为非活跃人群制定方案。应开展新的和现有的预防方案，以提高目标受众的认识。应将受欢迎的公路跑步活动视为具有重要的公共卫生潜力，并加以促进。
