[Jogging/running activity and quality of life in the elderly]

Objectives　The number of elderly joggers/runners in Japan has been on the rise. This study aimed to investigate the practice of jogging/running activity, features of quality of life (QOL) among the elderly, and the relationships between jogging/running activity and QOL features.Methods　A questionnaire survey was conducted with 83 older adults aged 60-81 who had participated in 7 marathons held from November 2014 to July 2015. Sex, age, experience (years), mileage (kms/month), frequency of jogging/running activity (times/week), frequency of participation in marathons (times/year), and QOL were assessed. QOL was measured with the WHOQOL26, which is composed of "overall QOL", "physical," "psychological," "social relationships," and "environment." The relations between these variables were estimated using correlation and multiple regression analyses.Results　In the majority of the participants, experience was 5 or more years, mileage was less than 150 kms/month, frequency of jogging/running activity was 1-4 times a week, and frequency of participation in marathons was 1-10 times a year. As for the participants above the age of 65, the mean QOL for men was 3.8 (standard deviation (SD)=0.4) and for women was 4.1 (SD=0.5). These scores were higher than those previously reported in studies among Japanese older adults. And there was no evidence which showed the bodily pain such as lower limb disorders, which older joggers or runners may often get. Overall QOL was positively associated with age and frequency of jogging/running activity. The social relationships domain was positively associated with sex and experience. The environment domain was positively correlated with experience. All these associations were significant.Conclusions　The results suggest that among the elderly, a high frequency and/or experience of jogging/running activity is significantly associated with a high level of QOL. In the future, a case-control or longitudinal study with a larger sample size and/or more variables is required to obtain a more definitive interpretation of the present findings.