Association between leisure-time physical activity level and perceived stress in community-dwelling older adults

概要

Perceived stress is defined as the degree to which individuals appraise the situations in their life as
stressful 1). Among older adults, perceived stress occurs due to inevitable psychological challenges (e.g.,
bereavement, deterioration of one’s health) 2). Additionally, the physiological and physical functions of older
adults decline with aging, and they become sensitive to detrimental environmental conditions and easily feel
stressed 3). High perceived stress leads to the risk of the onset of serious diseases such as depression, dementia,
and stroke among older adults 4,5,6). Therefore, it is important to investigate modifiable factors that reduce
perceived stress among older adults.
Physical activity confers benefits to the mental health of older adults 7). The World Health Organization
(WHO) has recommended that older adults should engage in physical activity considering all its parameters:
time, intensity, and frequency 7,8). Although previous studies have reported that longer time spent in physical
activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity are associated with lower perceived stress; however,
previous studies focused on only one parameter of physical activity 9,10). Therefore, it is necessary to investigate
the association between perceived stress and physical activity level considering all physical activity parameters.
Physical activity is classified into four types: leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), work-related
physical activity, domestic and gardening physical activity, and transport-related physical activity 11). Leisure
time constitutes a large part of the daily lives of retired older adults 12), and LTPA is especially beneficial to
mental health than other types of physical activity 13). Therefore, it may be important to focus on LTPA in the
association between PA and perceived stress in older adults; however, we have been able to find no study
which investigated this association among older adults.
This study aimed to investigate the association between LTPA level and perceived stress among
community-dwelling older adults. We hypothesized that a higher LTPA level would be associated with lower
perceived stress. If the hypothesis is substantiated, it may be possible to propose that engaging in physical
activity by considering multiple parameters of physical activity rather than just one parameter is effective in
reducing perceived stress. ...

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