ANALISE DO PADRAO DE ATIVIDADE FISICA DE IDOSOS DE UM BAIRRO DA CIDADE DE FORTALEZA, CEARA / Analyze the pattern of physical activity for elderly NEIGHBORHOOD OF A CITY in Fortaleza

AUTOR(ES)
FONTE

IBICT - Instituto Brasileiro de Informação em Ciência e Tecnologia

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

12/03/2010

RESUMO

From the importance of measuring the level of physical activity in the elderly population, the need and the limitation of existing questionnaires, the objective of the study was to describe the practice of physical activity developed by a sample of elderly people from one neighborhood of Fortaleza Ceará city. The study, methodological in its nature, used a random sample of 54 elderly, stratified by sex and age, and had as population the cohort of the elderly from IGGC - UFC. For data collection it was used an instrument for socioeconomic characteristics and other to identify the pattern of physical activity in the form of recall of physical activity of 24 hours, applied during three days. The identified activities were categorized using the Compendium of Physical Activities and the official recommendations. From the activities reported by each subject, the duration and the estimation of intensity were determined outcome variables for the pattern of physical activity. Data were entered using Epi-Info (version 3.5.1) and analyzed using Stata (version 10.0). Most of the elderly surveyed were female (63%), a similar percentage between 60 and 70 years, and between 71 and 88 years. Most are married, have income between R$ 465.00 and R$ 1,000.00, and over 8 years of schooling. They live with 2 to 4, or 5 to 9 people, in similar proportion, and one quarter of the elderly works. The categories of activities most performed are: household chores, personal care, inaction and displacement. In relation to the category of intensity of the activities performed by the elderly, it was observed that the majority perform activities considered light or inaction. The highest values of time were observed in the categories of household chores, and inaction, being the activities with more time: "multiple domestic activities, light", "to stay lying down and quiet", "sitting talking" and "watching television". In relation to energy expenditure, the highest values were in the categories: household chores, inaction, leisure and occupational. The obtained results are similar to other studies. Some of the activities identified in the application of the instrument of the study can be considered unusual. These activities are not present in most questionnaires, or their form of assessment cannot capture all diversity of behavior, such as caring for children or elderly, or walking movements. The socioeconomic characteristics more associated with physical activity patterns were: age, income, education and work. The results obtained in the study point to the need for further research, as the application of the list of activities in a representative sample of the elderly population, research on the use of a single item or multiple items in the measurement of a "compound" behavior and reduction of the list of items. Despite significant contributions to the understanding of the physical activity patterns of the elderly population, the study has limitations mainly because it is not representative of Fortaleza. Thus, important elements for measuring the level of physical activity in elderly people were identified, and should be taken into account in the developing of new measuring instruments.

ASSUNTO(S)

mensuração envelhecimento atividade física saude publica physical activity aging measurement

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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