Characterization of the Physical Activity Level (PAL) in Portuguese Elderly

• Main Author: Mendes, Francisco
• Publication Date: 2018
• Other Authors: Martins, Emília, Fernandes, Rosina, Amante, Maria João, Rosado, António, Molina, Jesús
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositórios Científicos de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (RCAAP)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/5409
• topic: Physical activity; elderly; Baecke

The positive impact of physical activity on the elderly is so relevant that WHO (2016) encourages it and sets out global recommendations for its practice. This paper describes a non-experimental study with 202 participants, with a mean age of 81.76 ± 7.47 years, of which 70.3% are female. 20.7% live with a spouse and 5.2% with their sons/daughters. The vast majority of participants (92.1%) has different levels of support from their care givers. Subjective measures were collected through the Baecke Habitual Physical Activity Questionnaire (HPAQ) (2009), and analyzed using the SPSS-24 with the confidence level of 95%. The results show that only 1.5% of the participants engaged in Sports Score (SS) while 44% participated in Leisure Time Score (LTS) activities with mean values of 1,045±1.05. The Domestic Activities Score (DAS) involves the largest number of subjects (83.7%) with a mean of .817± 69, and the HPAQ average is 1.3±1.31. Inferential analysis shows that advanced age, non-cohabitation with spouse and institutional support are relevant in the type of Physical Activities engaged in by the elderly. Gender and Body Mass Index (BMI) were not significant. It is, therefore, important to sensitize the providers of elderly care to develop strategies likely to promote, monitor, and follow up such Physical Activities.