Accelerometer-Measured Sedentary and Physical Activity Time and Their Correlates in European Older Adults: The SITLESS Study. (14th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Giné-Garriga, Maria; Sansano-Nadal, Oriol; Tully, Mark A; Caserotti, Paolo; Coll-Planas, Laura; Rothenbacher, Dietrich; Dallmeier, Dhayana; Denkinger, Michael; Wilson, Jason J; Martin-Borràs, Carme; Skjødt, Mathias; Ferri, Kelly; Farche, Ana Claudia; McIntosh, Emma; Blackburn, Nicole E; Salvà, Antoni; Roqué-i-Figuls, Marta
• Editors: Newman, Anne
• Is Part Of: Journals of gerontology. Volume 75:Number 9(2020)
• Page Start: 1754
• Page End: 1762
• Publication Date: 2020-01-14
• Subjects: Compositional analysis -- Sedentary behavior -- Physical activity -- Sociodemographic correlates; Geriatrics -- Periodicals; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 618.97
• DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glaa016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1079-5006

Abstract

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 sociodemographic and functional correlates of engaging in higher levels of SB in participants of a multicenter study including four European countries. Method: One thousand three hundred and sixty 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 7 days. Accelerometer-determined compositional descriptive statistics were calculated. A fixed-effects regression analysis was conducted to assess the sociodemographic (country, age, sex, civil status, education, and medications) and functional (body mass index and gait speed) correlates. Results: Older adults spent 78.8% of waking time in SB, 18.6% in light-intensity PA, and 2.6% in moderate-to-vigorous PA. Accelerometry showed that women engaged in more light-intensity PA and walking and men engaged in higher amounts of moderate-to-vigorous PA. 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.