Association between health-related physical fitness and self-reported health status in older Taiwanese adults

Abstract

Background: Aging is an inevitable process of life development. These physical changes may cause a decline in the functional adaptability and health of older adults. This study aims to determine if an association exists between health-related physical fitness measurements and self-reported health status in older Taiwanese adults.

Methods: A total of 22,389 Taiwanese adults aged 65 years or older were recruited as study participants. Demographic characteristics, life habits, anthropometric assessments, health-related physical fitness measurements, and self-reported health status from this dataset were analyzed using the chi-square test, one-way analysis of variance, and logistic regression analysis.

Results: The results showed that there was significant association between back scratch and self-reported health status (excellent/good) (odds ratio [OR], 1.003; 95% CI 1.000-1.006) after adjusting potential confounders (gender, height, weight, body mass index, education, monthly income, marital status, smoking status, and chewing betel nuts). However, adjusted OR for unhealthy status (poor/very poor) significantly decreased for chair sit-and-reach test (OR 0.994, 95% CI 0.988-0.999).

Conclusions: The present study reveals significant associations between health-related physical fitness measurements and self-reported health status in older Taiwanese adults. In particular, the waist-to-hip ratio could be involved in the cognitive process of one's subjective health status, since individuals' perception of their physical appearance affects their self-reported health. Future researches are suggested to investigate the causality between health-related physical fitness and subjective health status.

Keywords: Cross-sectional study; Older adults; Physical fitness; Self-reported health status; Taiwan.