Effect of age and physical activity level On functional fitness of older adults

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to determine the functional fitness and physical activity levels (PAL), the factors affecting the PAL, and the effects of age and PAL on functional fitness in older adults.Method: PAL of 229 older adults living in Balçova [111(48.5%) female, 118(51.5%) male] aged between 65-87 years (mean±SE = 70.4±0.3 years) was evaluated. Body mass index (BMI), lower and upper body strength, lower and upper body flexibility, dynamic balance, and aerobic endurance were tested in functional fitness evaluation.Results: According to the results subjects? PAL was 32-51 kcal/kg/day (mean±SE =35.3±0.2 kcal/kg/day) and exercise behaviour was found to have statistically significant effect on PAL (p<0.05). The young olds (65-69 years old) were significantly worse regarding BMI and better regarding lower body strength, dynamic balance and aerobic endurance (distance) than the olds (70 years old or over) (p<0.05). Age didn?t have any statistically significant effect on upper body strength, flexibility and aerobic endurance (VO2peak), PAL didn?t have any significant effect on functional fitness (p>0.05). When age groups were arranged according to PAL stratification, young olds showed significantly worse BMI than olds when the age groups were less active (p<0.05), there was no difference in BMI between age groups when the age groups were more active (p>0.05). The young olds showed significantly better lower body strength and dynamic balance than the olds when the age groups were more active, there was no difference in lower body strength (p>0.05) and dynamic balance (p=0.046) between age groups when the age groups were less active. The young olds showed significantly better aerobic endurance (distance) than the olds in both PAL groups (p<0.05).Conclusion: This study confirms that exercise behaviour significantly affects PAL. It generally seems that aging has an effect on functional fitness in older adults whereas PAL does not. However the young olds have to be more active than the olds in order to be better with regard to some functional fitness parameters.