Department of Physiology, University of Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain.
Superior Nursing School, University of Évora, Évora, Portugal.
Int J Older People Nurs. 2021 May;16(3):e12371. doi: 10.1111/opn.12371. Epub 2021 Mar 13.
There are a variety of intrinsic determinants which are key to understand the reasons for older people to stay (or not) active.
To identify and analyse the factors underlying the physical activity engagement in older Portuguese living in a rural area.
A total of 504 community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥65 years) were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Sociodemographic data, physical activity levels, physical fitness and body composition were analysed.
Gender, age, income level, lower body strength, overweight, muscle mass and sedentarism (sitting time) were significantly associated with different physical activity levels. The multinomial logistic regression pointed out that dynamic balance, BMI and sitting time for moderate levels, as well as muscle mass for high levels, were the main independent factors that seem to influence the engagement in these levels compared to low physical activity levels. Additionally, classification tree analysis confirmed sitting time, dynamic balance and gender as discriminating factors for physical activity levels.
Physical fitness-related variables seem to mainly determine the levels of physical activity in the studied population. Thus, nursing care must promote the integration of physical activity into daily life routines of community-dwelling older adults, especially in rural areas.
The diverse nature of factors influencing physical activity must be taken into account in primary health care, particularly in rural areas. Nursing care for older people must promote the integration of physical activity into daily life routines of community-dwelling older adults.
有各种内在决定因素是理解老年人保持（或不保持）活跃的原因的关键。
确定和分析居住在农村地区的葡萄牙老年人群体参与身体活动的相关因素。
本横断面研究共纳入了 504 名社区居住的老年人（年龄≥65 岁）。分析了他们的社会人口统计学数据、身体活动水平、身体状况和身体成分。
性别、年龄、收入水平、下肢力量、超重、肌肉量和久坐（坐立时间）与不同的身体活动水平显著相关。多项逻辑回归指出，动态平衡、BMI 和中强度坐立时间，以及高强度的肌肉量，是与低身体活动水平相比，影响参与这些水平的主要独立因素。此外，分类树分析证实，坐立时间、动态平衡和性别是身体活动水平的区分因素。
与身体状况相关的变量似乎主要决定了研究人群的身体活动水平。因此，护理服务必须促进社区居住的老年人将身体活动融入日常生活中，特别是在农村地区。
在初级卫生保健中，必须考虑到影响身体活动的各种因素，特别是在农村地区。对老年人的护理服务必须促进社区居住的老年人将身体活动融入日常生活中。
