Being active increases the quality of life of the elderly: study

According to a peer-reviewed study from the University of Cambridge, an active lifestyle has a direct correlation with the overall quality of life of adults over the age of 60.

The study of nearly 1,500 adults says older people who maintain an active routine and exercise regularly experience greater benefits in terms of their quality of life than those who don’t or who spend more sedentary time, such as watching TV or reading.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity per week for adults, and breaking prolonged periods of being sedentary or at least standing for older adults, the study said.

The findings indicate that physical activity reduces the risk of a number of diseases, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

“Keeping yourself active and limiting – and where possible, breaking up – the amount of time you spend sitting is very important, whatever stage of life you are in,” Dharani Yerrakalva of the University of Cambridge’s Department of Public Health and Primary Care said in a statement. press release.

“This seems to be especially important in later life when it can lead to potentially significant improvements in your quality of life and your physical and mental well-being.”

In an experiment, the research team examined the activity levels of 1,433 individuals aged 60 and older to look at health-related quality of life, which included measures of pain, ability to care for themselves, and anxiety or mood.

Based on their answers, the participants were given a score between zero and one, where zero is the worst quality of life and one is the best.

The researchers followed up the participants on average six years later to look for changes in their behavior and quality of life.

The result shows that those individuals who did more moderate to vigorous physical activity with less sedentary time had a higher quality of life.

It found that one hour per day more active was associated with a 0.02 higher quality of life score, and for every minute per day less involved in moderate to vigorous physical activity, quality of life scores fell by 0.03.

Increases in sedentary behavior were also associated with poorer quality of life, with an increase of just 15 minutes in daily sitting time resulting in a 0.18 decrease on a person’s score.

The researchers say previous work has shown that an improvement of just 0.1 point in quality of life scores can reduce the risk of premature death and hospitalization by 6.9 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.

“There are several ways that improvements in our physical behavior can help maintain a better quality of life,” Yerrakalva added.

“For example, more exercise reduces pain in common conditions such as osteoarthritis, and we know that being more physically active improves muscle strength, helping older adults to continue to care for themselves. Similarly, depression and anxiety are linked to quality of life, and can be improved by being more active and less sedentary.”

Coverage for this story was paid for through the Meta-funded The Afghan Journalists in Residence Project.