Why Being Physically Active or Inactive Affects Older Women's Physical Role?

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Public Health
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Active aging initiatives aim to enhance quality of life for older adults.
• Physical activity (PA) engagement in older women is influenced by pain perception and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).
• Pain coping strategies, both passive and active, are psychological predictors of pain adaptation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare clinical, sociodemographic, pain coping, and HRQoL differences between inactive and active older women.
• To examine associations between pain coping strategies, HRQoL dimensions, and physical role.
• To determine if passive strategies, pain, physical function, and general health mediate the relationship between activity status and physical role.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study involving 157 inactive and 183 active older women from rural areas.
• Data collection included clinical/sociodemographic characteristics, Short-Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36) for HRQoL, and Vanderbilt Pain Management Inventory (VPMI) for pain coping strategies.

Main Results:

• Significant differences were observed between active and inactive groups across most measured variables, including pain coping and HRQoL.
• Bodily pain, physical function, and general health were identified as predictors of physical role.
• Passive pain coping strategies, bodily pain, physical function, and general health significantly mediated the association between physical activity status and physical role.

Conclusions:

• Physical activity status (active vs. inactive) provides valuable insights into the complex interplay between PA, pain management, and physical role in older women.
• Findings highlight the mediating roles of pain coping and health status in the physical activity-physical role relationship.