Assessment of physical health, physical performance, and physical activity in exercise promotion intervention for older adults
Date
2020
Authors
Forsyth, Garrett, author
Diehl, Manfred, advisor
Luong, Gloria, committee member
Li, Kaigang, committee member
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Abstract
This study examined the effects of an intervention program, known as AgingPlus, on indicators of physical health (i.e. systolic and diastolic blood pressure), physical performance (i.e. left- and right-hand grip strength), and physical activity levels (i.e. total steps walked, total kilocalorie expenditure, and total distance). The sample included 120 older-adult participants who were relatively healthy and community residing. The study used a randomized pretest-posttest control group design. Findings showed that NVOA and self-efficacy beliefs did not mediate the association between the intervention and the outcome variables. We found that participants in the treatment and the control group improved their physical health, physical performance, and physical activity from the baseline assessment to the Week 8 follow-up. Additionally, the results showed that only participants in the treatment condition significantly decreased their systolic and diastolic blood pressure and significantly improved their left- and right-hand grip strength over an eight-week interval. These findings suggest that targeting NVOA and self-efficacy beliefs may be an effective strategy to optimize adults' healthy aging.
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Subject
AgingPlus
healthy
physical health
blood pressure
aging
intervention