Determinants of Sedentary Behavior, Motivation, Barriers and Strategies to Reduce Sitting Time in Older Women: A Qualitative Investigation

Abstract

Sedentary behavior defined as time spent non-exercising seated or reclining posture has been identified has a health risk and associated with frailty and disablement for older adults. Older adults are the most sedentary segment of society. To date no study has investigated the determinants of sedentary behavior in older adults. This study reports a qualitative investigation of the determinants of sedentary behavior, strategies and motivator to reduce sitting time by structured interviews in a group of community dwelling older women (N = 11, age 65 and over). Older women expressed the view that their sedentary behavior is mostly determined by pain which acts both as an incentive to sit and a motivator to stand up, lack of energy in the afternoon, pressure from direct social circle to sit and rest, societal and environmental typecasting that older adult are meant to sit, lack of environmental facilities to allow activity pacing. This qualitative investigation highlighted some factors that older adults consider determinants of their sedentary behavior. Some are identical to those affecting physical activity (self-efficacy, functional limitations, ageist stereotyping) but some appear specific to sedentary behavior (locus of control, pain) and should be further investigated and considered during intervention design. Tailored interventions that pay attention to the pattern of sedentary behavior of individuals appear to be supported by the views of older women on their sedentary behavior.

The utility of a protection motivation theory framework for understanding sedentary behavior

“…Scheduling SE was categorized into three psychological subcategories (productivity, focused, tired) and two situational subcategories (studying, screen time leisure; Chastin, Fitzpatrick, Andrews, & DiCroce, 2014;Greenwood-Hickman, Renz, & Rosenberg, 2015). Each subcategory was measured by three items, totaling to nine psychological items and six situational items.…”

The home as enabler of more active lifestyles among older people

“…Research indicates that among this group time spent sedentary is independently related to functional fitness (Santos et al, 2012), while individuals with lower levels of SB appear more likely to age successfully (Balboa-Castillo, Leon-Munoz, Graciani, Rodriguez-Artalejo, & Guallar-Castillon, 2011;Dogra & Stathokostas, 2012). Of concern to this paper, although relatively few studies have investigated SB in the older population (Chastin, Fitzpatrick, Andrews, & DiCroce, 2014), one might expect much of this behaviour to occur at home where this group can spend extended periods . In a population-based random sample (n ¼ 11 918), Brasche and Bischof (2005) found that individuals aged 65 years and over (n ¼ 2467) spent, on average, 19.5 hours per day at home (more time than any other age group).…”

“…Comparatively few studies have investigated the potential environmental correlates of PA and SB in older adults (Chastin et al, 2014;Van Cauwenberg et al, 2011). Equally relevant to the research reported here, few have explored such associations in stroke survivors (English, Manns, Tucak, & Bernhardt, 2014) or people with dementia (Stubbs et al, 2014).…”

“…The handful of studies that have investigated the environmental correlates of SB in older adults (Chastin et al, 2014) suggest that, as with PA, certain outdoor or neighbourhood/street-level environmental attributes might be important. Van Cauwenberg et al (2014) found, for example, that access to facilities and safety from crime were both associated with older adults' television viewing time (indoor environmental factors were not considered).…”

“…Whether it in any way informs these behaviours is, however, uncertain since comparatively little research has addressed this issue . Indeed, pointing to a critical flaw in the evidence base, of the few studies that have examined the role of the environment in PA and SB in older people (Chastin et al, 2014;Van Cauwenberg et al, 2011), attention has normally focused on outdoor environments neglecting the role of the home. Responding to this flaw, and the particular concerns of this special issue, this paper draws on interview and focus group data, collected from a diverse sample of 22 healthy volunteers, stroke survivors and people with dementia, mainly aged 60 years and over, to provide insights into the experienced and/or perceived role of the domestic indoor built environment, i.e.…”