 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Rachel B. Seymour, MS, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, 850 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 400 (MC 275), Chicago, IL 60607, 312-413-9834, rseymo1@uic.edu, Susan L. Hughes, DSW, Center for Research on Health and Aging, University of Illinois at Chicago, 850 W. Jackson (M/C 275), Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60607, and Richard T. Campbell, PhD, Health Research and Policy Centers, University of Illinois at Chicago, 850 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60607-3025.
Despite evidence of the beneficial effects of physical activity, older adults are the most sedentary segment of the population (Surgeon General, 1996). In order to persuade sedentary older adults to change their behaviors, it is necessary to understand factors which predict initiation of, and adherence, to physical activity. We used data from the Fit and Strong randomized trial of aerobic walking, strength training, and health education for older adults with lower extremity osteoarthritis to examine this issue. Specifically, we examined the relationship between demographic characteristics, arthritis functional class, and mediators such as self-efficacy and stages of change on exercise participation for 217 subjects. Subjects were broken into exercise participators (>=90 minutes of exercise/week) and non-participators (<=90 minutes of exercise/week). At baseline, exercise participation differed significantly by arthritis functional class (p< .05). However, no significant differences were found for age, gender, race, education or income. Those with mild to moderate arthritis were more likely to participate in exercise than those with severe arthritis. As Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (1989) suggests, significant correlations were found between exercise participation at baseline and self-efficacy for exercise and self-efficacy for adherence to exercise over time. Structural equation modeling, multiple logistic regression, and multivariate regression will be conducted to examine the relationship between demographic and mediating variables and exercise participation. Separate analysis will also be conducted for the treatment and control groups in order to investigate the impact of the intervention on participation and mediating variables.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Exercise, Adherence
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.