Swartz Ann M, Steinbrink Garrett M, Strath Scott J, Mitra Tarini, Morelli Whitney A
Department of Kinesiology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
J Aging Phys Act. 2024 Nov 20;33(3):287-308. doi: 10.1123/japa.2023-0416. Print 2025 Jun 1.
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the available evidence regarding the impact of breaks in sedentary time on cardiovascular, metabolic, functional, and psychosocial health of adults aged 60 years and older.
A systematic search of databases was performed in May 2024. This review was registered with PROSPERO (#374311) and has been reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
A total of seven articles (five unique studies) were included. The available evidence suggests minimal changes in health-related variables. Specifically, changes to cardio-metabolic and psychosocial variables were limited. Changes to physical function appear to show the most promise. While only one of the studies included focused solely on reducing sedentary behavior, all others focused on reducing sedentary behavior by increasing physical activity. Two of the seven articles showed significant changes compared with the control group to sedentary time ranging from 32 to 58 min. Mean sedentary bout time and number of sedentary bouts longer than 30 min were reduced in two of the seven articles. No changes in sit-to-stand transitions were reported.
There is limited evidence focusing on the impact of breaks or interruptions to sedentary time on the physical and mental health of community-dwelling adults 60+ years. Significance/Implications: This systematic review examines recent research aimed to disrupt sedentary behavior and positively impact health in community-dwelling older adults. Results show the difficulty of increasing sit-to-stand transitions/breaks in sedentary behavior, and highlight the challenge of disentangling the effects of sedentary behavior, and physical activity on health.
