2 Physical activity as a risk or protective factor | 25 Table 2.1 shows the characteristics of the study population at baseline, stratified for non-frail (n=215) and frail (n=96) older adults. Among these 311 subjects, the mean age in the total sample was 81.1 (SD 4.8) years and the majority were women (n=173, 55.6%). The mean time spent on physical activity in the total sample was 10.8 (SD 14.7) minutes per day as assessed by the Actigraph and 54.5 (SD 52.7) minutes per day as assessed by the LAPAQ. The mean Body Mass Index was 27.2 (SD 4.1). A total of 51 participants (12.5%) reported feeling dizzy regularly. Mean six-meter walking speed with a turn at three meter was lower in the non-frail group compared to the frail group, and grip strength was higher in the non-frail group compared to the frail group. Table 2.1. Baseline characteristics of the study population Non-frail n = 215 Frail n = 96 p value Age (years)a 79.0 (76.9-82.7) 81.8 (79.1-86.9) < 0.001 Sex (female)b 113 (52.6%) 60 (62.5%) 0.10 BMIa 25.7 (23.8-29.1) 28.1 (25.8-30.8) < 0.001 Dizziness (yes)b 33 (15.3%) 18 (18.8%) 0.30 Frailty index scorea 0.16 (0.11-0.20) 0.32 (0.27-0.38) < 0.001 Mean six-meter walking speed (m/sec)a, c 7.0 (6.0-8.0) 11.0 (8.0-13.5) < 0.001 Grip strength (kg)a 24 (18.1-32.4) 18.5 (13.5-25.5) < 0.001 Physical activity (minutes per day)a, d 55.1 (31.1-87.3) 25.9 (9.5-51.0) < 0.001 LAPAQa, d 58.6 (30.0-88.6) 27.1 (11.8-45.0) < 0.001 BMI Body Mass Index, LAPAQ LASA Physical Activity Questionnaire, IQR Interquartile range. P values are calculated using Chi-squared tests and Mann-Whitney U tests. a Presented as median (IQR) b Presented as n (percentage) c Six meter walking time was tested by asking subjects to walk 3 meters, to turn around and walk back 3 meters as quickly as possible in m/sec d Duration of physical activities at least at light-high intensity Physical activity and falls Figure 2.2 shows the amount of physical activity for participants who did and did not experience a fall during follow-up, stratified for non-frail and frail older adults. Among non-fallers, the mean daily amount of physical activity among non-frail adults was 66.7 minutes (SD 41.5) and was significantly higher than among frail adults with 35.2 (SD 26.1) daily minutes of physical activity per day (95% CI of the difference: 7.8 to 55.3 minutes per day). Among fallers, the mean daily amount of physical activity among non-frail adults was 69.1 minutes (SD 54.3) and was significantly higher than frail adults with 32.3 (SD 29.0) daily minutes of physical activity per day (95% CI of the difference: 25.0 to 48.6 minutes per day). No difference in physical activity was found between fallers and non-fallers with the same frailty status.
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