The Association Between Self-Reported Adherence to Physical Activity Recommendations and Criteria for Maintaining...

While physical activity (PA) improves functions for activities of daily living, little is known of the association between meeting published PA Guidelines for Americans (PAGA) and meeting published physical function guidelines for maintaining independence. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between meeting the PAGA and meeting independence criteria on the Senior Fitness Tests (SFT). Older adults (N = 265) completed SFTs, assessing cardiorespiratory fitness, lower and upper body strength, mobility, and self-reported aerobic and resistance PA. Chi-square tests and logistic regressions examined associations between meeting PAGA and SFT independence criteria. A significant relationship was found between meeting aerobic PAGA and cardiorespiratory and upper body SFT criteria; a significant relationship was found between meeting resistance PAGA and upper body strength criteria. Although research suggests that PAGA are effective in maintaining fitness in older adults when PA is structured and monitored, mixed results were found for self-reported PA and SFT criteria.