Domain-Specific Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Older Adults With Mobility Disability Risk Residing in a...

This study investigated domain-specific physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) among older adults living in a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) as a function of risk of mobility disability.

Secondary cross-sectional data from 100 older CCRC residents were analyzed. The short physical performance battery (SPPB) assessed mobility disability risk, and PA and SB were self-reported. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, and Quade's nonparametric ANOVA, with significance set at p < 0.05.

Fifty-nine participants had an SPPB score < 10, indicating high mobility disability risk, while 41 had a score ≥ 10, indicating low risk. The low-risk group had higher total PA (67.1 ± 41.8 vs. 49.2 ± 40.5, p=0.012) and leisure PA (30.5 ± 25.1 vs. 21.2 ± 23.5, p=0.035) minutes, and higher total sedentary minutes (645.8 ± 209.6 vs. 567.0 ± 290.8, p=0.007) and non-screen sedentary minutes (447.1 ± 182.7 vs. 350.0 ± 164.8, p=0.002) than the high risk group. After controlling for age, perceived health, and assistive device use, the differences between groups were no longer significant (p > 0.05).

Despite nonsignificant adjusted differences, our findings indicate overall low PA and high SB in the study participants. Given the well-documented benefits of PA, targeted interventions are needed to increase PA and reduce SB in this population.