Correlates of total physical activity among middle-aged and elderly women

Information on correlates of total physical activity (PA) levels among middle-aged and elderly women is limited. This article aims to investigate whether total daily PA levels are associated with age, body mass index, smoking, drinking status, and sociodemographic factors. In a cross-sectional study of 38,988 women between the ages of 48 and 83 years residing in central Sweden, information on PA, weight, height, smoking, drinking, and sociodemographic factors was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. Total daily PA levels were measured as metabolic equivalents (MET-h/day). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated by ordinal logistic regression models. We observed decreasing level of total PA with increasing age (for 5-year increase: OR = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.85-0.89) and body mass index (for 5-unit, kg/m2, increase: OR = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.79-0.84). Multivariable adjusted correlates of total PA level were smoking (current vs. never: OR = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.79-0.88), drinking (current vs. never: OR = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.82-0.94), educational level (university vs. primary: OR = 0.54; 95% CI: 0.51-0.58), employment status (housewife vs. full-work: OR = 2.59; 95% CI: 2.25-2.98), and childhood environment (city vs. countryside: OR = 0.62; 95% CI: 0.59-0.65). In the present investigation, among middle-aged and elderly women, the likelihood of engaging in higher total daily PA levels decreased with age, body mass index, educational level, smoking, drinking, and growing up in urban places.