Relationships among Leisure Physical Activity, Sedentary Lifestyle, Physical Fitness, and Happiness in Adults 65 Years or Older in Taiwan
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
- Demographic information: age, sex, living status (living together with others or living alone), education level, and income.
- Physical fitness testing: Testing was conducted in accordance with The Fitness Guide for Older Adults published by the Sports Administration of the Ministry of Education. The testing involved cardiorespiratory endurance, muscle strength, muscle endurance, flexibility, balance, and body composition. The method and procedure for each test item are described as follows [35]:
- I.
- Aerobic endurance (2-min step tests): Colored tape was used to mark the height of the middle point between the patella and iliac spine on a wall. This indicated the height to which the participant was asked to raise their knees as they walked in place. The number of steps within 2 min was recorded.
- II.
- Muscle strength and endurance in the upper extremities (30-s arm curl): Each participant was asked to sit on the edge of a chair on the side of their dominant hand with their back straight and both feet fully touching the floor. They were then asked to hold a dumbbell with their dominant hand and bend their elbow toward their shoulder. The number of curls (bending the elbow toward the shoulder and returning to the original position) within 30 s was recorded.
- III.
- Muscle strength and endurance in the lower extremities (30-s chair stand tests): Each participant was asked to sit in the center of a chair with both feet touching the floor and arms crossed in front of their chest. The number of times each participant stood up from a seated position within 30 s was recorded.
- IV.
- Flexibility in the upper extremities (back stretch tests): Each participant was asked to place their dominant hand behind their shoulder on the same side with their palm facing their back; they were then asked to reach their other hand (with the palm facing away from their back) from the lower back upward toward their dominant hand until the two hands overlapped or until they could not reach any further. The test result was determined based on the distance between the two middle fingers. Participants received negative points for the distance between the fingers if the hands did not touch and received positive points for any overlapping.
- V.
- Flexibility in the lower extremities (chair sit-and-reach tests): Each participant was asked to bend one leg, straighten the other leg with the heel touching the floor, place their hands on top of each other, reach the hands toward the toes of their strengthened leg, and hold the position for 2 s. This was repeated twice per leg. Participants received negative points for the distance between their fingertips and the tips of their toes, and they received positive points for the distance of their fingertips beyond their toes. The highest score for each participant was recorded as the test result.
- VI.
- Dynamic balance ability (8-foot up-and-go tests): Each participant was seated on a chair with a 2.44 m traffic cone in front of them. When the tester said “start,” they were asked to walk as fast as possible around the traffic cone (running was not allowed), walk back, and sit back on the chair.
- VII.
- Static balance ability (one-leg stance with eyes open tests): Each participant was asked to stand with their hands on their waist, raise one leg, and then place it on the inner side of the ankle of the other leg. Each participant was alternately tested with both legs; full marks were given for a 120 s stance.
- VIII.
- Body composition: body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR):
- (a)
- BMI is used to measure obesity and is calculated by dividing body weight (kg) by the square of height (m).
- (b)
- To measure WHR, each participant was asked to take a regular breath, after which their waist circumference was measured at the level of the middle point between the lower edge of the ribs and the ilium; hip circumference was measured around the widest part of the hips under the pelvic bone. Both the waist and hip circumferences were measured twice. WHR was calculated by dividing the waist circumference by the hip circumference; the mean of the two WHR measurements was recorded for each participant.
- Physical activity investigation: The participants were asked whether they had participated in physical activities for at least 10 min during the preceding 7 days, primarily to determine whether they have a sedentary lifestyle. Indicators of a lifestyle considered sedentary or not include walking status, how laborious one’s physical activity is, and the extent to which one sits on a daily basis.
- Happiness index: The happiness of elderly adults was assessed using data collected from the Project on the Establishment of Physical Fitness Testing Stations. In this study, a structured questionnaire (with face-to-face administration) was designed based on the Cantril ladder scale (from 0 to 10) in the 2012 Gallup World Poll. The items included “On a scale from 0 to 10, how happy were you yesterday?”
Statistical Analysis
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Variables | Not Living Alone | Living Alone | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
Population | 11280 (82%) | 2423 (18%) | |
Age | 73.358 | 74.689 | <0.001 |
Education | 1.7389 | 1.5819 | <0.001 |
Income | 1.1932 | 1.1478 | 0.002 |
BMI | 24.886 | 24.879 | 0.930 |
WHR | 0.89634 | 0.89615 | 0.910 |
Step test | 12.391 | 10.775 | <0.001 |
Chair stand tests | 14.813 | 14.147 | <0.001 |
Arm curl | 17.640 | 16.775 | <0.001 |
One-leg stance | 83.54 | 81.26 | 0.0004 |
Chair sit-and-reach | 4.1156 | 3.8172 | 0.240 |
Back stretch | −7.6539 | −8.2723 | 0.061 |
Up-and-go tests | 7.6214 | 8.0769 | <0.001 |
Laborious | 115.855 | 98.695 | 0.004 |
M_laborious | 243.79 | 222.49 | 0.001 |
Walk | 330.47 | 333.57 | 0.72 |
Sedentary | 1089.5 | 1115.8 | 0.10 |
Happiness | 39.674 | 38.360 | <0.001 |
Variables | Rural | Urban | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
Population | 5699 (42%) | 8004 (58%) | |
Age | 74.275 | 73.107 | <0.001 |
Education | 1.5113 | 1.8534 | <0.001 |
Income | 1.1481 | 1.2115 | <0.001 |
BMI | 25.054 | 24.765 | <0.001 |
WHR | 0.90328 | 0.89134 | <0.001 |
Step test | 10.570 | 13.199 | <0.001 |
Chair stand tests | 13.766 | 15.357 | <0.001 |
Arm curl | 16.693 | 18.052 | <0.001 |
One-leg stance | 78.211 | 86.645 | <0.001 |
Chair sit-and-each | 3.1120 | 4.7398 | <0.001 |
Back stretch | −8.6306 | −7.1457 | <0.001 |
Up-and-go tests | 8.2306 | 7.3255 | <0.001 |
Laborious | 114.29 | 111.77 | 0.610 |
M_laborious | 233.34 | 244.78 | 0.084 |
Walk | 315.94 | 341.75 | <0.001 |
Sedentary | 1067.5 | 1113.1 | 0.0002 |
Happiness | 39.332 | 39.520 | 0.077 |
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Variables | Male | Female | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|
Population | 4978 (36%) | 8725 (64%) | |
Age | 74.233 | 73.228 | <0.001 |
Education | 2.0474 | 1.5193 | <0.001 |
Income | 1.2949 | 1.1225 | <0.001 |
BMI | 24.835 | 24.913 | 0.20 |
WHR | 0.92414 | 0.88042 | <0.001 |
Stance with eyes open | 13.621 | 11.241 | <0.001 |
Chair stand | 15.220 | 14.396 | <0.001 |
Arm curl | 17.945 | 17.225 | <0.001 |
2-min step | 85.288 | 81.910 | <0.001 |
Chair sit-and-reach | 0.92135 | 5.85516 | <0.001 |
Back stretch | −12.1460 | −5.2627 | <0.001 |
Up-and-go | 7.4862 | 7.8250 | <0.001 |
Laborious | 142.554 | 95.856 | <0.001 |
M_laborious | 258.07 | 229.73 | <0.001 |
Walk | 347.48 | 321.62 | <0.001 |
Sedentary | 1100.8 | 1090.3 | 0.40 |
Happiness | 39.175 | 39.593 | <0.001 |
Variables | Male | Female | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Selected Variable | Coefficient Estimation | Selected Variable | Coefficient Estimation | |
Intercept | 43.08 | - | 38.92 | |
Age | Max (0, age-93) | −0.69 | - | - |
Max (0, 93-age) | −0.11 | Max (0, 82-age) | −0.09 | |
Living Alone | - | −1.70 | - | −1.04 |
Education | - | - | - | - |
- | - | Max (0, 3-Edu) | 0.39 | |
Income | Max (0, Income-6) | −6.25 | - | - |
Max (0, 6-Income) | −0.27 | - | - | |
BMI | - | - | - | |
Max (0, 28.9-BMI) | −0.11 | Max (0, 24.3-BMI) | −0.19 | |
Stance with eyes open | - | - | - | |
Max (0, 9-Single_Legged) | −0.10 | - | - | |
Chair stand | - | - | - | - |
Max (0, 18-Chair_Sitting) | −0.08 | - | - | |
Arm curl | Max (0, Arm_Flexion-7) | 0.04 | - | - |
- | - | Max (0, 25-Arm_Flexion) | −0.90 | |
2-min step | - | - | Max (0, Knees_Up-88) | −0.02 |
- | - | - | - | |
Back stretch | Max (0, Scratch-4) | 0.09 | - | - |
- | - | - | - | |
Up-and-go | Max (0, Around-13.8) | −0.19 | - | - |
Max (0, 13.8-Around) | 0.20 | Max (0, 15-Around) | 0.32 | |
Laborious | - | - | - | - |
- | - | Max (0, 210-Laborious) | 0.003 | |
M_laborious | - | - | Max (0, M_laborious-420) | −0.001 |
- | - | Max (0, 420-M_laborious) | −0.002 | |
Walk | - | - | - | |
Max (0, 630-Walk) | −0.002 | Max (0, 270-Walk) | 0.003 | |
Sedentary | Max (0, Sedentary-450) | −0.001 | - | - |
- | - | Max (0, 3600-Sedentary) | 0.0005 |
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Lin, Y.-T.; Chen, M.; Ho, C.-C.; Lee, T.-S. Relationships among Leisure Physical Activity, Sedentary Lifestyle, Physical Fitness, and Happiness in Adults 65 Years or Older in Taiwan. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 5235. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145235
Lin Y-T, Chen M, Ho C-C, Lee T-S. Relationships among Leisure Physical Activity, Sedentary Lifestyle, Physical Fitness, and Happiness in Adults 65 Years or Older in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17(14):5235. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145235
Chicago/Turabian StyleLin, Yi-Tien, Mingchih Chen, Chien-Chang Ho, and Tian-Shyug Lee. 2020. "Relationships among Leisure Physical Activity, Sedentary Lifestyle, Physical Fitness, and Happiness in Adults 65 Years or Older in Taiwan" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 14: 5235. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145235