Cardiovascular health status and health risk assessment method of preference among worksite employees.

We investigated whether employees (n = 62) selecting a self-report Health Risk Assessment (HRA) would be at increased CVD risk compared to employees (n = 114) choosing an HRA with measurement of cardiovascular (CVD) health indicators. Participants were mostly middle-aged (44.1 +/- 0.8 yr) men (71.6%) displaying borderline features of the cardiometabolic syndrome. Although there were no significant differences between the groups regarding their measured CVD health status or self-reported lifestyle habits, employees in both groups consistently over-stated their level of cardiovascular health. Contrary to reports in the literature, cardiovascular health status did not appear to influence employee HRA method of preference.Editors' Strategic Implications: These findings await replication in other samples, both more diverse and less self-selected. Nonetheless, the authors' methods and their conclusions about workers' over-estimation of their health and the lack of differences across assessment methods will be useful to employers, health professionals, and all practitioners with an interest in health risk assessments.

Participation in an Older Adult Heart Health Program affects lifestyle behavior.

The Older Adult Heart Health Program (HHP) was a university-based outreach health screen and education program. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the HHP was associated with lifestyle behavior change among participants. HHP volunteers (n=136) were mostly white (98.5%) women (79.4%) with a mean (+/- SEM) age of 75.1+/-0.6 years. A follow-up survey was sent to the participants' homes 4 months after the HHP inquiring about physician office visitation and adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors since the HHP. A majority (n=60, 64.5%) of those who completed the survey (n=93, 68.4% response rate) indicated they visited their physician after the HHP. A greater percentage of survey respondents who visited their physician made lifestyle behavior changes than those who did not, 71.1% vs. 45.4%, respectively (p=0.032). These findings suggest participating in programs such as the HHP prompt physician visitation and behavior change among older adults residing in the community.

Adiposity of elderly women and its relationship with self-reported and observed physical performance.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is a societal trend toward increasing obesity and a natural tendency for physical performance to decrease with age. Our purpose was to describe the adiposity of elderly women participating in a health screening and to determine the relationship between their adiposity and both observed and self-reported physical performance. METHODS: Subjects were 104 communitydwelling elderly women (74.9+/-7.5 years). Their adiposity was described using body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist to hip ratio. Physical performance was characterized using timed sit-to-stand, unilateral standing, 25-foot walk and the Physical Functioning subscale of the SF-36. Habitual activity was summarized as the number of daily hours patients estimated they spent moving about on their feet. RESULTS: The majority of women had excessive adiposity. Greater adiposity was associated with worse physical performance. Both Pearson correlations and multiple regression revealed BMI to be significantly predictive of all physical performance measures. Age added to the explanation of walking time and unilateral stance time. Time moving about contributed to the explanation of self-reported physical functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Adiposity should be documented as part of the physical therapist examination of elderly women. It may be an appropriate target of intervention if physical performance is limited.

Time spent moving is related to systolic blood pressure among older women.

Isolated systolic hypertension is present in the majority of older women. Exercise is an attractive antihypertensive lifestyle therapy for older women with isolated systolic hypertension, but the amount of exercise needed to reduce blood pressure (BP) is not clear. Evidence is accumulating that lower levels of physical exertion are associated with decreased BP. The authors sought to determine if BP was related to daily time spent moving. Participants were 109 women (mean +/- SD, 75.2+/-7.2 yr). A majority (63.3%) had hypertension, and 48.6% had isolated systolic hypertension. Systolic BP was lower among women moving > or =5 h/d (142.2+/-18.7 mm Hg) than those moving <5 h/d (149.8+/-19.0 mm Hg) (p=0.038). Multiple regression analysis indicated that the potentially strong confounding effects of antihypertensive medication use, adiposity, and age did not eliminate these favorable associations between daily time spent moving and systolic BP. Older women should be encouraged to regularly engage in physical activities typical of everyday life such as walking because of its BP benefits.

Grip strength norms for elderly women.

As part of community health screenings, the grip strength of 113 independently ambulatory women (M age=75.2 +/- 7.3 yr.) was measured. Norms derived from the measurements are presented and compared with (a) norms reported for similar procedures about 20 years ago and (b) values for disabled women.