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Psychological functioning and adherence to the recommended dose of physical activity in later life: results from a national health survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2012

Yael Netz ,
Ayelet Dunsky ,
Sima Zach ,
Rebecca Goldsmith ,
Tal Shimony ,
Uri Goldbourt  and
Aviva Zeev
Yael Netz*
Affiliation:
The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel
Ayelet Dunsky
Affiliation:
The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel
Sima Zach
Affiliation:
The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel
Rebecca Goldsmith
Affiliation:
Ministry of Health, Department of Nutrition, Jerusalem, Israel
Tal Shimony
Affiliation:
Ministry of Health, Israel Center for Disease Control, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Uri Goldbourt
Affiliation:
The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Aviva Zeev
Affiliation:
The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Yael Netz, PhD, The Zinman College of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Wingate Institute, Netanya 42902, Israel. Phone: 972-9-8639314; Fax: 972-9-8650-960. E-mail: neyael@wincol.ac.il.
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Abstract

Background: Official health organizations have established the dose of physical activity needed for preserving both physical and psychological health in old age. The objective of this study was to explore whether adherence to the recommended criterion of physical activity accounted for better psychological functioning in older adults in Israel.

Methods: A random sample of 1,663 (799 men) Israelis reported their physical activity routine, and based on official guidelines were divided into sufficiently active, insufficiently active, and inactive groups. The General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) was used for assessing mental health and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for assessing cognitive functioning.

Results: Factor analysis performed on the GHQ yielded two factors – positive and negative. Logistic regressions for the GHQ factors and for the MMSE were conducted for explaining their variance, with demographic variables entered first, followed by health and then physical activity. The explained variance in the three steps was Cox and Snell R2 = 0.022, 0.023, 0.039 for the positive factor, 0.066, 0.093, 0.101 for the negative factor, and 0.204, 0.206, 0.209 for the MMSE.

Conclusions: Adherence to the recommended dose of physical activity accounted for better psychological functioning beyond demographic and health variables; however, the additional explained variance was small. More specific guidelines of physical activity may elucidate a stronger relationship, but only randomized controlled trials can reveal cause–effect relationship between physical activity and psychological functioning. More studies are needed focusing on the positive factor of psychological functioning.

Keywords

positive affectnegative affectmental healthcognitionguidelines of physical activity
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 24 , Issue 12 , December 2012 , pp. 2027 - 2036
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2012

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