Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
5 years ago

Associations Between Self-Reported Physical Activity and Physical Performance Measures Over Time in Postmenopausal Women: The Women's Health Initiative

Marcia L. Stefanick, Brad Cannell, Deepika R. Laddu, Jane A. Cauley, Michael J. LaMonte, Meryl S. LeBoff, Aladdin H. Shadyab, Erik Groessl, Cynthia A. Thomson, Scott B. Going, Betsy C. Wertheim, David O. Garcia, Robert Brunner
Objectives To examine prospective associations between changes in physical activity (PA) and changes in physical performance measures (PPMs) over 6 years in older women. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Forty clinical centers in the United States. Participants Women aged 65 and older (mean age 69.8) enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative Clinical Trials with gait speed, timed chair stand, grip strength, and self-reported recreational PA data assessed at baseline (1993–98) and follow-up Years 1, 3, and 6 (N = 5,092). Measurements Mixed-effects linear regression models were used to determine the association between time-varying PA and change in each PPM. Potential interactions between time-varying PA and age (<70, ≥70) were also tested. Results Significan, dose-response associations between PA and improvements in all PPMs were observed over the 6 years of follow-up after adjusting for important covariates. High PA groups (≥1,200 metabolic equivalent (MET)-min/wk) had stronger grip strength (0.48 kg greater; P < .01), more chair stands (0.35 more; P < .001), and faster gait speeds (0.06 m/s faster; P < .001) than sedentary women (<100 MET-min/wk). Higher PA levels were associated with a greater increase in chair stands over time in women aged 70 and older (P < .001) than in those younger than 70 (Pinteraction for age = .01). Conclusion In postmenopausal women, maintaining high PA levels over time is associated with better lower extremity function. These data support the view that regular PA plays an important role in maintaining functional status during aging in older women.

Publisher URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/resolve/doi

DOI: 10.1111/jgs.14991

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.