Transition and factors associated with the level of physical activity combined with sedentary behavior of the elderly: A longitudinal study

INTRODUCTION: Physical activity and sedentary behavior are emerging issues in public health, especially in developing countries. OBJECTIVE: To verify transition and factors related to physical activity combined with sedentary behavior among the elderly followed for 24 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal observational study with people aged 60 years or over living in the urban area of Uberaba, Brazil. We collected the data from sociodemographic, health, and physical tests in 2014 and 2016 using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Katz Index, the Lawton and Brody Scale, the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). For the combined evaluation we considered a cutoff point of 150 minutes of physical activity per week and the percentile 75 (420 minutes/day) for sedentary behavior constituting the groups: Unsatisfactory (insufficient sum of physical activity and sedentary behavior), intermediate (loss of only one of the two components) and satisfactory (sufficient sum of physical activity and sedentary behavior). The statistical descriptive and inferential analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences(™), version 21.0, considering p<0.05. RESULTS: Of the 374 elderly, 61 (16.3%) improved their physical activity and sedentary behavior condition, 226 (60.4%) remained in the same category and 87 (23.3%) got worse. Unsatisfactory levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior were related to the eldest group (p=0.031), the absence of professional activity (p<0.001), the dependence for instrumental activities of daily living (p=0.013), and a worse physical performance (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Our results showed a relationship between sociodemographic and health factors with physical activity and sedentary behavior, reiterating the need for further research on the subject.