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. 2015 Dec 2;10(12):e0144048.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144048. eCollection 2015.

Physical Performance and Physical Activity in Older Adults: Associated but Separate Domains of Physical Function in Old Age

Rob C van Lummel  1   2 , Stefan Walgaard  1   3 , Mirjam Pijnappels  2 , Petra J M Elders  4 , Judith Garcia-Aymerich  5   6   7 , Jaap H van Dieën  2 , Peter J Beek  2
Affiliations

Physical Performance and Physical Activity in Older Adults: Associated but Separate Domains of Physical Function in Old Age

Rob C van Lummel et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Physical function is a crucial factor in the prevention and treatment of health conditions in older adults and is usually measured objectively with physical performance tests and/or physical activity monitoring.

Objective: To examine whether 1) physical performance (PP) and physical activity (PA) constitute separate domains of physical function; 2) differentiation of PA classes is more informative than overall PA.

Design: Cross-sectional study to explore the relationships within and among PP and PA measures.

Methods: In 49 older participants (83 ± 7 years; M ± SD), performance-based tests were conducted and PA was measured for one week. Activity monitor data were reduced in terms of duration, periods, and mean duration of periods of lying, sitting, standing and locomotion. The relation between and within PP scores and PA outcomes were analysed using rank order correlation and factor analysis.

Results: Factor structure after varimax rotation revealed two orthogonal factors explaining 78% of the variance in the data: one comprising all PA variables and one comprising all PP variables. PP scores correlated moderately with PA in daily life. Differentiation of activity types and quantification of their duration, intensity and frequency of occurrence provided stronger associations with PP, as compared to a single measure of acceleration expressing overall PA.

Limitations: For independent validation, the conclusions about the validity of the presented conceptual framework and its clinical implications need to be confirmed in other studies.

Conclusions: PP and PA represent associated but separate domains of physical function, suggesting that an improvement of PP does not automatically imply an increase of PA, i.e. a change to a more active lifestyle. Differentiation of activity classes in the analysis of PA provides more insights into PA and its association with PP than using a single overall measure of acceleration.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: Rob van Lummel is a Ph.D. candidate at the Faculty of Human Movement Sciences (VU University Amsterdam) and the owner of McRoberts B.V. This company is the manufacturer of the DynaPort. Stefan Walgaard is employed by McRoberts BV. The authors received funding from a commercial source (Agis/Achmea). This does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Mobility measures presented in a framework with physical performance and physical activity as domains of physical function.
Activity classes are determined and for all types of physical activity total duration, number of periods and mean duration of periods are calculated.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Participant wearing the activity monitor, located at the lower trunk.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Raw acceleration signals (top panel) and a Gantt chart of classes of activity (bottom panel).
The blue or dark grey line represents longitudinal (x), green or light black mediolateral (y) and red or light grey anterior-posterior (z) axis of the accelerometer. During lying, the person turns from prone to the left side.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Mean Movement Intensity and standard deviations per class of activity.
Differences between classes of activity were all significant (P < 0.01).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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