Accelerometer-measured sedentary and physical activity time and their correlates in European older adults: the SITLESS study

Giné-Garriga, M. et al. (2020) Accelerometer-measured sedentary and physical activity time and their correlates in European older adults: the SITLESS study. Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 75(9), pp. 1754-1762. (doi: 10.1093/gerona/glaa016) (PMID:31943000) (PMCID:PMC7494025)

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Abstract

Background: Sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity (PA) are important determinants of health in older adults. This study aimed to describe the composition of accelerometer-measured SB and PA in older adults, to explore self-reported context-specific SB, and to assess socio-demographic and functional correlates of engaging in higher levels of SB in participants of a multi-center study including four European countries. Methods: 1360 community-dwelling older adults from the SITLESS study (61.8% women; 75.3±6.3 years) completed a self-reported SB questionnaire and wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for seven days. Accelerometer-determined compositional descriptive statistics were calculated. A fixed effects regression analysis was conducted to assess the socio-demographic (country, age, sex, civil status, education and medications) and functional (BMI and gait speed) correlates. Results: Older adults spent 78.8% of waking time in SB, 18.6% in light-intensity PA (LPA), and 2.6% in moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA). Accelerometry showed that women engaged in more LPA and walking and men engaged in higher amounts of MVPA. Watching television and reading accounted for 47.2% of waking time. Older age, being a man, single, taking more medications, being obese and overweight, and having a slower gait speed were statistically significant correlates of more sedentary time. Conclusions: The high amount of SB of our participants justifies the need to develop and evaluate interventions to reduce sitting time. A clinically relevant change in gait speed can decrease almost 0.45 percentage points of sedentary time. The distribution of context-specific sedentary activities by country and sex showed minor differences, albeit worth noting.

Item Type:Articles
Additional Information:This work was supported by the European Union program Horizon 2020 (H2020-Grant 634270).
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:McIntosh, Professor Emma
Authors: Giné-Garriga, M., Sansano-Nadal, O., Tully, M. A., Caserotti, P., Coll-Planas, L., Rothenbacher, D., Dallmeier, D., Denkinger, M., Wilson, J. J., Martin-Borràs, C., Skjødt, M., Ferri, K., Farche, A. C., McIntosh, E., Blackburn, N. E., Salvà, A., and Roqué-i-Figuls, M.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Health Economics and Health Technology Assessment
Journal Name:Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences
Publisher:Oxford University Press
ISSN:1079-5006
ISSN (Online):1758-535X
Published Online:14 January 2020
Copyright Holders:Copyright © The Authors 2020
First Published:First published in Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences 75(9): 1754-1762
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons license

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