Geriatric benefits of exercise as an adult

Associations between habitual physical activity and health were studied by retrospective questioning of 674 retirees aged 65-90. Within the limitations of the study (a volunteer sample and a simple questionnaire index of physical activity), the data show a decrease of activity in men, but not in women, from age 50 to the retirement years. The main factors influencing disability, and therefore health-care costs, were age (disability greater in older subjects) and sex (disability greater in women than in men). ANCOVA indicated that after allowing for these two variables, there was a possible small effect of physical activity at age 50 upon subsequent disability (p less than .094), together with a significant physical activity/sex interaction (p less than .030). However, a multivariate linear regression analysis of quality-adjusted health-care costs showed no significant effect of physical activity at age 50 upon subsequent disability. Nor did those surviving to the higher quintiles of the retirement years show a higher physical activity score at age 50 than those in the lower quintiles. While further research with more precise instruments remains desirable, the present results suggest that habitual physical activity at the age of 50 has only a weak association with lower levels of current physical disability and no relationship to resultant health-care costs during the years of retirement.