Interventions to increase physical activity among older adults : a meta-analysis
Abstract
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Few older adults engage in the nationally recommended amounts of physical activity. The purpose of the present study was to determine the overall effectiveness of interventions designed to increase physical activity (PA) behavior among community-dwelling older adults. An exhaustive literature search was conducted to find eligible PA intervention studies conducted among community-dwelling adults age 65 and older. Diverse characteristics from these studies were extracted, including intervention characteristics and outcome data. Mean effect sizes (ESs) of the included studies were calculated and synthesized, and differences across study characteristics were explored. ESs were calculated from 13,829 primary study subjects. The overall mean ES for two group posttest comparisons was 0.18 (95% CI 0.10-0.26, p<0.001). This represents a difference of 620 steps/day or 73 minutes of PA/week between treatment and control groups. Significant moderators included the use of theory, forms of mediated delivery, and combination cognitive plus behavioral-type intervention components. Nonsignificant moderators included the type of interventionist, delivery setting, and various measures of intervention dose. PA interventions significantly improved PA behavior among community-dwelling older adults. Effective PA interventions may be efficiently delivered using already available resources and personnel. Future PA intervention research should be theoretically based, incorporate more diverse subjects, and compare intervention delivery methods.
Degree
Ph. D.
Thesis Department
Rights
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