Do weather changes influence physical activity level among older adults? - The Generation 100 study

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 13; no. 7; p. e0199463
• Main Authors: Aspvik, Nils Petter, Viken, Hallgeir, Ingebrigtsen, Jan Erik, Zisko, Nina, Mehus, Ingar, Wisløff, Ulrik, Stensvold, Dorthe
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 06.07.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Accelerometers; Adults; Age; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Analysis; Biology and Life Sciences; Body Mass Index; Cardiorespiratory Fitness; Data analysis; Data processing; Earth Sciences; Education; Engineering and Technology; Environmental aspects; Environmental factors; Environmental impact; Exercise; Female; Females; Fitness; Geriatric Assessment; Health aspects; Health planning; Humans; Influence; Male; Males; Medical imaging; Medicine; Medicine and Health Sciences; Norway; Older people; Oxygen; Oxygen uptake; Panel data; Participation; People and Places; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Physical Sciences; Political science; Population; Precipitation; Precipitation (Meteorology); Public health; Public Health Surveillance; Regression analysis; Seasons; Sociology; Studies; Temperature; Temperature effects; Weather; Weather conditions; Weather effects; Norway; Australia; United States > US
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199463

Understanding how individual and environmental factors impact physical activity (PA) level is important when building strategies to improve PA of older adults. No studies have examined how hour-to-hour weather changes influence PA in older adults or how the association between weather and PA eventually is related to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) measured as peak oxygen uptake. The aim of this study was therefore to examine how hour-to-hour changes in weather effects hour-to-hour PA in a cohort of Norwegian older adults across CRF levels, gender and seasons. PA was assessed objectively in 1219 older adults (70-77 years, 51% females) using the Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometer, and quantified as counts·min-1 (CPM). Weather (Norwegian meteorological Institute) and CRF (MetaMax II) were measured objectively. Panel data analysis added a longitudinal dimension when 110.888 hours of weather- and PA data were analyzed. Older adults had a higher PA level in warmer (597 CPM) than colder months (556 CPM) (p<0.01). Fixed effects regression-models revealed that increasing temperatures (per hour) influenced PA positively in both colder and warmer months (all, p<0.01), with greater influence in fitter vs. less fit participants (p<0.01). In warmer months, increasing precipitation negatively influenced PA in both unfit females and unfit males (p<0.01). In colder months, increasing precipitation positively influenced PA for moderately fit to fit males (p<0.01), but not for females and unfit males. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the association between weather conditions and objectively-measured-PA among Norwegian older adults. Our findings demonstrates that unfit older adults will be less likely to participate in PA when the weather is unpleasant, compared to those highly fit. The data suggests that the impact of weather should not be ignored when planning public health strategies for increasing PA among older adults.