Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.
Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2014 Feb 28;11(1):28. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-11-28.
Elderly people obtain significant health benefits from physical activity (PA), but the role of activity patterns has scarcely been researched. The present study aims to describe the patterns of PA among different intensities of activity in elderly people. We assess how patterns differ between more and less active groups ('rare', 'average', and 'frequent'), and explore whether and how various PA parameters are associated with functional exercise capacity (FEC).
PA was measured in 168 subjects (78 males; 65-89 years of age), using a triaxial GT3X accelerometer for ten consecutive days. Subjects were divided into three groups by activity and the groups were compared. A multiple linear regression model was used to predict FEC.
Participants greater than or equal to 80 years are most prone to being sedentary for long periods, while women and the obese are the groups most likely to spend insufficient time in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA). Rarely active elderly people had a decreased proportion of long bouts of MVPA and light PA and of short bouts in sedentary behavior than frequently active subjects did (p<0.001). As predictors of FEC, younger age, lower BMI, male sex, better lung function, absence of multimorbidity, longer times and longer bouts of MVPA emerged as significant parameters (r(2)=0.54). Patterns of MVPA explained most of the variance.
PA patterns provide information beyond reports of activity alone. MVPA in elderly people may be increased by increasing the proportion of long bouts, in order to increase FEC as well as average PA. However, health conditions may limit PA. In rarely active people (often with reduced FEC, worse lung function, and diagnosis of multimorbidity or disability), longer periods of time in light PA may be sufficient to increase the overall level of activity.
体力活动（PA）对老年人的健康有显著益处，但活动模式的作用尚未得到充分研究。本研究旨在描述老年人不同强度体力活动的模式。我们评估了更活跃和不活跃组（“罕见”、“平均”和“频繁”）之间的模式差异，并探讨了各种 PA 参数与功能运动能力（FEC）之间的关联。
使用三轴 GT3X 加速度计连续 10 天测量 168 名受试者（78 名男性；年龄 65-89 岁）的 PA。根据活动将受试者分为三组，并进行组间比较。采用多元线性回归模型预测 FEC。
80 岁及以上的参与者更容易长时间久坐，而女性和肥胖者则更有可能没有足够的时间进行中等到剧烈的 PA（MVPA）。与频繁活动者相比，很少活动的老年人进行长时间 MVPA 和轻度 PA 的比例以及短时间久坐的比例较低（p<0.001）。作为 FEC 的预测因子，年轻、较低的 BMI、男性、更好的肺功能、无多种疾病、较长的 MVPA 时间和较长的 MVPA 时间出现了作为显著参数（r(2)=0.54）。MVPA 模式解释了大部分的方差。
PA 模式提供了比活动报告更全面的信息。为了提高 FEC 和平均 PA，可以通过增加长段时间来增加老年人的 MVPA。然而，健康状况可能会限制 PA。在很少活动的人群中（通常 FEC 降低、肺功能较差、患有多种疾病或残疾），增加轻度 PA 的时间可能足以提高整体活动水平。
