The impact of unsupervised regular walking on health: a sample of Turkish middle-aged and older adults

Abstract

Regular walking is one of the most recommended and popular physical activity worldwide. This study (1) detected the effects of unsupervised regular walking on physical and cognitive functioning, emotional status, and quality of life in middle-aged and older adults and (2) compared the results with inactive controls. Forty middleaged and older adults with a mean age of 56.30±4.85 years (range 40-70) walking for at least 1 year, at least three times a week, and at least 45 min a day and 40 inactive participants with a mean age of 55.15±5.64 years (range 40-70) participated. Before testing, sociodemographics of the participants were recorded. Body mass index and waist-hip ratio were calculated. The two groups were evaluated and compared in terms of physical functioning (handgrip strength, balance performance, cardio-vascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance and coordination), cognitive functioning (Mini Mental Test), emotional status (Beck Depression Inventory), and health related quality of life (CDC HRQOL-4). The results obtained from this study showed that there were significant differences in terms of all outcome measurements between the groups (p<0.05). The regular walking group had better scores in most parameters than the inactive controls. The results indicate that unsupervised regular walking improves health and is also a safe, cheap, and can easily be adapted into daily life. Therefore, it can be recommended to improve physical and cognitive functioning, emotional status, and quality of life of middle-aged and older adults.

Who Do We Reach? Campaign Evaluation of Find Thirty every day® Using Awareness Profiles in a Western Australian Cohort

“…However, across and within the profiles, gender was significant, and we found that women participated less in total physical activity than did men, which is reflected in other research findings (Ainsworth, Sternfeld, Richardson, & Jackson, 2000). Perhaps the weak relation between the awareness profiles and physical activity is partly explained by walking being the most common type of physical activity in adults (Hallal et al, 2012;Sharpe et al, 2010;Simpson et al, 2003) because it is cheap and accessible, has low risk for injury, and is effective for weight loss (Atalay & Cavlak, 2012;Ekkekakis, Backhouse, Gray, & Lind, 2008;Rippe, Ward, Porcari, & Freedson, 1988). We can also posit that the motivators for physical activity are complex and multifactorial (Kwan & Bryan, 2010), so using one proximal measure-awareness-has limitations.…”

Who do we reach? Campaign evaluation of Find Thirty every day® using awareness profiles in a Western Australian cohort

“…However, across and within the profiles gender was significant and we found females participating less in total physical activity than men, which is reflected in other research findings (Ainsworth, Sternfeld, Richardson, & Jackson, 2000). Perhaps, the weak relationship between the awareness profiles and physical activity is partly explained by walking being the most common type of physical activity in adults (Hallal et al, 2012;Sharpe et al, 2010;Simpson et al, 2003) as it is cheap and accessible, has low risk for injury, and is effective for weight loss (Atalay & Cavlak;Ekkekakis, Backhouse, Gray, & Lind, 2008;Rippe, Ward, Porcari, & Freedson, 1988). We can also posit that the motivators for physical activity are complex and multi-factorial (Kwan & Bryan, 2010) so using one proximal measure, awareness, has limitations.…”

Experiences of Habitual Physical Activity in Maintaining Roles and Functioning among Older Adults: A Qualitative Study

“…Walking was the most prominent pattern of physical activity; almost all participants related their state of well-being and functioning to their ability to walk. This finding can be understandable as walking is viewed as one of the most recommended and popular forms of PA among older adults and it can easily be adapted into daily lifestyle [47]. …”