Personal factors and level of physical activity of the elderly in a house of day

Physical activity of the elderly

Abstract

Introduction: Older adults who engage in physical activity can benefit from it; as greater autonomy, satisfaction and excitement would highlight a state of well-being behaviour. Personal factors, according to Nola J. Pender's promotion model, predict a given behavior as physical activity. Objective: To determine the relationship between personal factors and the level of physical activity of older adults in a day-care center. Material and methods: quantitative, correlational, observational, and transversal study; universe of 60 people registered to the activities of the Mission Hidalgo day care center, over 65 years old, who accepted to participate; Rosenberg's self-esteem scale, a personal factors questionnaire, and the GPAQ were used to measure the level of physical activity, signed by informed consent. Results: Personal factors: Biological: 59.3% women, mean age 75.78±7.79 years; Psychological: 44.7% showed high self-esteem, 42.6% medium and 16.7% low; Socio-cultural: 77.8% were Catholic; 83.3% received government support, 31.5% were widowed, 59.3% were in the home and 35.2% in the field, 59.3% with primary school education. Physical activity: 64.8% had a high level, 24.1% a medium level, and 11.1% a low level. Pearson correlated the level of physical activity with gender (biological factors) and religion (sociodemographic factors). Conclusions: In the population studied, a high level of physical activity predominates, influenced by personal factors such as age and religion. The self-esteem of the older adult is high, free union prevails, no studies, income is obtained from government support, these personal factors do not influence the physical activity of the older adult in a rural community.