Leisure-time physical activity as a protective factor for functional capacity loss in community dwelling elders

Abstract

Populational aging led to the emergence of chronic diseases, all potentially incapacitating, thus affecting functional capacity (FC) of elders. Despite health evidences in favour of having regular physical activity, the majority of elders are not sufficiently active. Baseline data of an urban elder cohort in Brazil showed that only 28% were active and 68% had some functional loss, a figure that went up to 73% among the inactives. FC was associated with a network of sociodemographic, health and behavioral factors. In a multivariate analysis, the inactives showed twice the odds of being severely dependent when compared to the actives. Noteworthy that inactivity is as a modifiable factor that might prevent FC loss. Longitudinal studies are needed to verify.

Relationship between physical activity and functional capacity change in aged cohort in São Paulo, Brazil

“…The bibliographic review carried out by Jensen and Hsiao (2010) (39) found that, in addition to being strongly related to BMI, FC is also related to involuntary changes in body weight, up or down. The reduction in FC with advancing age, as pointed out in this study, is consistently reported in the literature (8,11,14,16,40,42,(45)(46) . This relationship is explained by the discrete and constant biological and functional losses characteristic of the aging process that, even if not linear, are associated with age (47) .…”

“…Studies relating LTPA and FC in aged people have in general a cross-sectional design (8,10,12,36) . Our longitudinal design enabled to explore the effect of LTPA on FC over a period of 3,5 years, controlling for all the other risk factors, providing estimates of the risk of changing FC due to the amount of LTPA.…”

“…FC is, in fact, an important risk factor for mortality and there is evidence that aged people with a higher degree of dependence in daily life have a greater risk of dying than independent ones (6)(7) . Several studies have shown that FC, in turn, is associated with sociodemographic, health and behavioral factors such as age, gender, education, income, number of diagnosis, body mass, smoking, drinking and exercising (8)(9)(10)(11)(12) .…”

“…The WHO (13) identifies physical inactivity as the fourth main risk factor for global mortality and points to physical activity (PA) as one of the main determinants of active aging with evidence in improving quality of life, reducing disability, maintaining FC and promoting longevity. The relationship between PA and the health status of the elderly is well established and has been pointed out by countless studies that demonstrate its physical, social, psychological and functional benefits (8,(14)(15) .…”

“…It is important for public health to better understand the relation between LTPA and changes in FC in old age, controlling for all the social, behavioral and health characteristics of the aged population, since the evidences are often cross-sectional (8)(9)(10) . Such knowledge will instruct the planning of public policies for prevention and health promotion for the aged, aiming at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Brazil, that propose, among others, to promote mental health and well-being for everyone, at all ages and to reduce by one third the premature mortality from non-communicable diseases via prevention and treatment, by 2030 (20) .…”