Amounts of physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns in older adults: using an accelerometer and a physical activity diary / 한국영양학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study evaluated amounts of physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns in older adults using an accelerometer and physical activity diary. METHODS: Forty-nine older adults (male 26, female 23) participated in this study. They wore a triaxial accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) for one week and wrote a physical activity diary concurrently for three days. Amounts of physical activity, sedentary behavior patterns, and percentage of meeting the World health organization (WHO) physical activity guidelines were analyzed using an accelerometer. In addition, the contents recorded in the physical activity diary were reclassified to 18 levels and the average daily times spent on each level and physical activity level (PAL) were calculated. RESULTS: The subjects were sitting more than half of the day except for bedtime and shower time (59.2%). The numbers of prolonged ≥30, 40 minutes sedentary bouts were significantly higher in males (3.10 ±1.34, 1.78 ±1.09, respectively) than in females (2.34 ±1.22, 1.32 ±1.07, respectively) and the number of breaks per sedentary hour was significantly less in males (5.74 ±0.89) than in females (6.44 ±0.71). Among the activities corresponding to sedentary behavior surveyed by the physical activity diary, only the amount of time spent ‘resting, speaking and watching TV’ showed a significant correlation with the sedentary behavior pattern measured by the accelerometer. The persistence of sedentary behavior was interrupted primarily when low intensity activity was performed. Only 22.4% of the subjects met WHO physical activity guidelines. CONCLUSION: Based on these results, the physical activity guidelines for older adults should be developed that reflects the appropriate strength, including low activity level and maintenance time of moderate to vigorous physical activity.