Abstract:
This study aimed to estimate the proportion of the population adhering to the physical
activity (PA) recommendation and examine the influence of socio-demographic correlates
on reaching the recommendation in older adults. One hundred (n=100) older
adults’(Over 65 years) in Kandy district were selected and their PA was measured using
the International Physical Activity Questionnaire long-form, and socio-demographic
factors were collected through interviews. Physical activity levels (PAL) and significant
association between socio-demographic correlates were studied using chi-square and
compared with fisher pairwise comparison using mini tab 18 software. Results indicate
that 38% of older adults adhered to PA recommendation of the World Health Organization
(2020). Gender (r=46.23, p=0.000) and Employment (r=9.158, p=0.002) were
significantly correlated with the PAL of the older adults. The one-way ANOVA and fisher
pairwise comparison results revealed that moderately active females had significantly
higher PA than moderately active males, while low physically active males and females
had significantly low PA compared to moderately active males and females (F(3)=87.2,
p=0.000). Further, moderately active older adults showed significantly higher PA than
employed and unemployed low physically active older adults (F(2)=124, p=0.000). The
comparison of PAL with self-perceived health and body mass index (BMI) revealed that
the majority of the older adults insufficiently adhered to but had healthy BMI and good
self-perceived health (22%). However, most of the older adults (76%) were in a healthy
nutritional status, a majority (70%) perceived their health as good or excellent levels.
