| The purpose of this study was to determine whether functional fitness and lifelong physical activity are significantly related to perceived health in community-dwelling older adults. Seventy-one older adults ( M = 73.6 years; 36 women and 35 men) completed a functional fitness test comprised of two subtests of muscular strength and endurance, two of flexibility, one of aerobic endurance, one of dynamic balance and agility, and one measure of body composition. In addition, lifelong physical activity was assessed with a three-dimensional questionnaire that calls for responses by decade as to frequency and intensity of occupational, leisure, and household physical activity. Current health status was assessed with a self-report measure (SF-36 v.2) to index health-related quality of life. Measurements were administered once and correlational analyses completed to determine the strength and direction of relationships among the functional fitness, lifelong activity and health variables. Multiple regression procedures with perceived health as the criterion variable, and two combinations of predictor variables also were completed. It was hypothesized that there would be a medium-strength or greater correlation between functional fitness and perceived health. The results revealed moderate to strong correlations among perceived health and the functional fitness subtests involving lower and upper extremity strength, lower body flexibility, dynamic balance and agility, and cardiorespiratory fitness. There were also moderate to strong correlations between lifelong physical activity and all but one of the functional fitness subtests. Better health was only weakly associated with a higher level of lifelong physical activity. Limitations of the lifelong physical activity measure may have been a factor in the weaker relationship found between lifelong physical activity and perceived health. The positive association between functional fitness and health indicates that physical fitness level, measured functionally, may be a valid predictor of perceived health. |
