The association between elderly people’s sedentary behaviors and their health-related quality of life: focusing on comparing the young-old and the old-old

Abstract

Background Research on the effects of sedentary behavior on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of the elderly is limited. The present study aimed to determine the association between sedentary behavior and the HRQoL of the young-old (aged 65–74 years) people and old-old (aged ≥75 years) people. Methods This study used the raw data of the 7th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2016. The study subjects were 1,415 people aged over 65 years. The association between HRQoL and average daily sitting time was analyzed using the point biserial correlation coefficient. The effect of sedentary behavior on HRQoL was analyzed by logistic regression analysis. Results Overall, elderly people aged ≥65 years spent 7.9 h in sedentary pursuits: the young-old spent 7.7 h and the old-old spent 9.0 h. Longer sitting time was found to be associated with lower HROoL while shorter sitting time was associated with higher HROoL, with the relationship stronger among the old-old than among the young-old. This means that the effects of either having longer time sitting per day and low quality of life or shorter time sitting per day and high quality of life are more pronounced in the old-old in comparison to the young-old. Conclusions Sedentary behavior is significantly associated with people’s HRQoL. Interventions towards improving the HRQoL by reducing sedentary behavior based on the respective characteristics of young-old and old-old people are needed.

The Evaluation of Differenceson Geriatric Syndromesbetween Active and Sedentary Elderly

“…According to the literature, sedentary behaviors (activities with an energy cost of less than 1.5METs such as sitting and lying down) are associated with an increased risk of various diseases including type II diabetes, CVD and mortality in the long run [22]. In addition, the condition for sedentary behaviors increases with increasing age and retirement.It has also been reported that older people spend about 60 percent of their awake time in the sitting position [22].…”

“…It has also been shown that the incidence and mortality rate of CVD, diabetes, cancer and stroke is up to two times higher in inactive elderly than in those with high levels of PA [20]. In addition, the results of recent research show that leisure-time exercise was associated with the prevention and control of cardiovascular, metabolic, hypertensive, osteoarthritis, and reduced drug consumption, as well as a 28% reduction in mortality risk in the elderly [12,21,22].…”

Balance as an Additional Effect of Strength and Flexibility Aquatic Training in Sedentary Lifestyle Elderly Women

“…In a previous study, we observed that aquatic training improved muscle strength and flexibility in sedentary lifestyle elderly women [1,2]. However, some participants also mentioned balance improvement a er aquatic training.…”

“…Sedentary behavior is inversely associated with quality of life in older adults. Besides, it has been associated to a higher risk of developing obesity, type-2 diabetes, bone hypodensity, and cardiovascular diseases [1].…”

“…Aquatic training programs usually specify pool depth, movement velocity, and direction, verbal command and cues, and frequency and intensity of exercises [14,15]. Studies have been carried out to evaluate the possibilities of different environments to promote muscle strength and balance improvement, especially considering the aquatic exercise programs for older adults [1,2,4,16,17].…”