Is Complexity of Daily Activity Associated with Physical Function and Life Space Mobility among Older Adults?

Purpose Information about mobility, and physical function may be encoded in the complexity of daily activity pattern. Therefore, daily activity pattern complexity metrics could provide novel insight regarding the relationship between daily activity behaviour and health. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between the complexity of daily activity behaviour, and mobility and physical function among community-dwelling older adults aged 75, 80, and 85 years-of-age. Methods A total of 309 participants wore accelerometers concurrently on the thigh and the trunk for at least 3 consecutive days. Five activity states (lying, sitting, standing, walking, or activity other t…

The Associations of Activity Fragmentation with Physical and Mental Fatigability among Community-Dwelling 75-, 80- and 85-Year-Old People

Abstract Background Fatigue related to task standardized by duration and intensity, termed fatigability, could manifest as shortening of activity bouts throughout the day causing daily activity to accumulate in a more fragmented pattern. Our purpose was to study the association of activity fragmentation with physical and mental dimensions of fatigability. Methods A cross-sectional study of 485 community-dwelling 75-, 80-, and 85-year-old people using a thigh-worn accelerometer for 3–7 days. Activity fragmentation was studied as Active-to-Sedentary Transition Probability for 2 operational definitions of physical activity: accelerations equivalent to at least light physical activity and for u…

Outdoor Mobility and Use of Adaptive or Maladaptive Walking Modifications among Older People

Background. In old age, decline in functioning may cause changes in walking ability. Our aim was to study whether older people who report adaptive, maladaptive or no walking modifications differ in outdoor mobility. Methods. Community-dwelling people aged 75–90 years (N=848) were interviewed at baseline, of whom 761 participated in the 2-year follow-up. Walking modifications were assessed by asking the participants whether they had modified their way of walking 2 kilometers due to their health. Based on the responses, three categories were formed: no walking modifications (reference), adaptive (e.g., walking more slowly, using an aid) and maladaptive walking modifications (reduced frequency…

Supplemental_tables – Supplemental Material for Associations between Perceived Outdoor Environment and Walking Modifications in Community-Dwelling Older People: A Two-Year Follow-Up Study

Supplemental Material, Supplemental_tables for Associations between Perceived Outdoor Environment and Walking Modifications in Community-Dwelling Older People: A Two-Year Follow-Up Study by Heidi Skantz, Taina Rantanen, Timo Rantalainen, Kirsi E. Keskinen, Lotta Palmberg, Erja Portegijs, Johanna Eronen and Merja Rantakokko in Journal of Aging and Health

Associations Between Accelerometer-Based Free-Living Walking and Self-Reported Walking Capability Among Community-Dwelling Older People

The authors examined whether accelerometer-based free-living walking differs between those reporting walking modifications or perceiving walking difficulty versus those with no difficulty. Community-dwelling 75-, 80-, or 85-year-old people (N = 479) wore accelerometers continuously for 3–7 days, and reported whether they perceived no difficulties, used walking modifications, or perceived difficulties walking 2 km. Daily walking minutes, walking bouts, walking bout intensity and duration, and activity fragmentation were calculated from accelerometer recordings, and cut points for increased risk for perceiving walking difficulties were calculated using receiver operating characteristic analys…

Neighborhood Mobility and Unmet Physical Activity Need in Old Age: A 2-Year Follow-Up

Background: Many older people report a willingness to increase outdoor physical activity (PA), but no opportunities for it, a situation termed as unmet PA need. The authors studied whether lower neighborhood mobility and PA precede the development of unmet PA need. Methods: Community-dwelling 75- to 90-year-old people (n = 700) were interviewed annually for 2 years. Unmet PA need, neighborhood mobility, and PA were self-reported. In addition, accelerometer-based step counts were assessed among a subgroup (n = 156). Results: Logistic regression analyses revealed that lower baseline neighborhood mobility (odds ratio 3.02, 95% confidence interval [1.86, 4.90] vs. daily) and PA (odds ratio 4.37…

Comment on “Fatigability: A Prognostic Indicator of Phenotypic Aging”

Associations between Perceived Outdoor Environment and Walking Modifications in Community-Dwelling Older People: A Two-Year Follow-Up Study

Objectives: To examine associations of perceived outdoor environment with the prevalence and development of adaptive (e.g., slower pace) and maladaptive (e.g., avoiding walking) modifications in walking 2 km among older people. Methods: Community-dwelling 75–90 -year-old persons ( N = 848) reported environmental outdoor mobility facilitators and barriers at baseline. Modifications in walking 2 km (adaptive, maladaptive, or no) were assessed at baseline and one and two years later. Results: Outdoor mobility facilitators were more often reported by those not using modifications or using adaptive versus maladaptive walking modifications. Differences in health and physical capacity explained m…

Psychological resilience and active aging among older people with mobility limitations.

Active aging refers to striving for well-being through preferred activity and may be restricted with declining mobility. We investigated whether psychological resilience, i.e., the ability to tolerate hardship, can aid older people in being active despite mobility limitations. Participants were 961 community-dwelling persons aged 75, 80, or 85 years living in Jyväskylä, Central Finland. Mobility limitations were indicated as self-reported difficulty in walking 2 km. Categories were no difficulty (reference), difficulty, and unable to walk. Resilience was assessed with the 10-item Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale and active aging with the University of Jyvaskyla Active Aging scale. Data were…

Keski-iän vuorotyön yhteys eläkeiän uneen

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli selvittää, onko keski-iässä tehty vuorotyö yhteydessä heikompaan unen laatuun vielä vuosia eläkkeelle jäämisen jälkeen. Lisäksi tarkasteltiin, miten tutkittavien unen laatu muuttui tutkimuksen seuranta-aikana ja miten eri työaikamuodot ovat yhteydessä unen laatuun keski-iässä ja eläkkeelle jäämisen jälkeen. Tutkimus perustuu Kunta-alan työntekijöiden pitkittäistutkimuksen aineistoon (KVTEL), jossa kuntatyöntekijöiden terveyttä ja työ- ja toimintakykyä seurattiin 28 vuoden ajan. Kyselyt tehtiin vuosina 1981, 1985, 1992, 1997 ja 2009. Vuonna 1981 tutkimuksen alkaessa 6257 iältään 45-58-vuotiasta työntekijää vastasi kyselyyn. Heistä 3093 osallistui vuoden 2009 seu…

Perceived Opportunities for Physical Activity and Willingness to Be More Active in Older Adults with Different Physical Activity Levels

This study examined equity in physical activity (PA) by investigating whether perceived opportunity for PA was associated with willingness to be more active. Among community residents (75, 80, or 85 years old, n = 962) perceived opportunity for PA (poor and good), willingness to be more active (not at all, a bit, and a lot), and level of PA (low, moderate, and high) were assessed via questionnaires. Multinomial logistic regression showed that physical activity moderated the association between poor opportunity and willingness to increase PA. Among those with moderate PA, poor opportunity for PA increased the odds of willingness to be a lot more active (multinomial odds ratio, mOR 3.90, 95% …

Musification of Accelerometry Data Towards Raising Awareness of Physical Activity

Previous research has shown that the temporal dynamics of human activity recorded by accelerometers share a similar structure with music. This opens the possibility to use musical sonification of accelerometry data to raise awareness of daily physical activity. In this study a method was developed for quantifying the daily structure of human activity using multigranular temporal segmentation, and applying it to produce musical sonifications. Two accelerometry recordings of physical activity were selected from a dataset, such that one shows more physical activity than the other. These data were segmented in different time-scales so that segmentation boundaries at a given time-scale have a co…

The Relationship Between Sleep Characteristics and Unmet Physical Activity Need in Older Women

Objective: We examined among older women the association of sleep quality, daytime tiredness, and sleep duration with unmet physical activity need, that is, wishing to be more physically active but perceiving no opportunity for it. Method: Cross-sectional logistic regression analyses among women aged 74 to 86 years (Finnish Twin Study on Aging, third wave, n = 302). Results: Thirty-one participants reported unmet physical activity need. Short sleepers had fivefold and long sleepers threefold odds for unmet physical activity need compared with normative sleepers, while for daytime tiredness the odds were double. Presence of daytime tiredness and unmet physical activity coincided with higher…

Active aging – resilience and external support as modifiers of the disablement outcome: AGNES cohort study protocol

Background: Population aging increases the need for knowledge on positive aspects of aging, and contributions of older people to their own wellbeing and that of others. We defined active aging as an individual’s striving for elements of wellbeing with activities as per their goals, abilities and opportunities. This study examines associations of health, health behaviors, health literacy and functional abilities, environmental and social support with active aging and wellbeing. We will develop and validate assessment methods for physical activity and physical resilience suitable for research on older people, and examine their associations with active aging and wellbeing. We will examine coho…