Physical activity and active aging: Dialogues Brazil – Portugal

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Regular physical activity (PA) among the elderly is highly recommended to promote aging. The maintenance of a physically active lifestyle through middle age and old age is associated with better health conditions in old age and greater longevity. Even when PA practice begins at older ages. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between the level and recommended time of PA with the sociodemographic and health variables of the elderly in Brazil and Portugal. METHODOLOGY: Descriptive and exploratory study, with a quantitative approach. The sample was found by 300 elderly people attending health services, in the cities of Aveiro (Portugal) and Brasília (Brazil), between the months of October 2019 and February 2020. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was applied who assessed the level of PA, in addition to sociodemographic issues and PA practice. For statistical analysis, Student's t test was used, with a confidence value of p <0.05. RESULTS: The average age was 71.86 years. Differences were observed both in sociodemographic variables and in those that assessed PA. The results were statistically based on age (p <0.001), occupation (p = 0.003), participation in groups (p <0.001), PA level (p <0.001) and PA time (p <0.001). In Brazil (4.7%) in relation to Portugal (46.7%), they did not perform any type of PA in the week they were taken and were thus classified as “sedentary”. In addition, 88% and 91.3%, of the Brazilian and Portuguese elderly, respectively, had some chronic disease. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified significant differences between the groups in Aveiro and Brasília, related to some sociodemographic variables and between the "level of PA" and "time of PA", and in Portugal the level of sedentarism for the superior to Brazil. In parallel, a high number of elderly people with chronic diseases was also observed.