ranking of the facilitators of participation of the elderly in physical activity by topsis technique in ahvaz city

the aim of this study was to rank the facilitators of participation of the elderly in physical activity. this research was descriptive-analytical and method of data collection was survey-field. statistical population consisted of all elderly of ahvaz city in 2014. the sample size was determined as 383 subjects. a researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. its validity was assessed using diagnostic validity usingave index. minimum value for ave was calculated as 0.67. reliability was assessed using construct reliability. minimum value of cr was 0.86. the cronbach alpha (α=0.91) showed the reliability of this questionnaire. finally, topsis technique was used to rank facilitators of participation of the elderly in physical activity in ahvaz city. the findings showed that among the facilitators of participation in physical activity, environmental and facility factor (ci = 0.8548) had the first position and financial and economic factor (ci = 0.4479) had the lowest rank from the elderly's viewpoint. due to the growing population of the elderly and according to these results, it seems that the physical activity problems of the elderly can reduce through more attention and deep understanding of the trainers and other health professionals in designing appropriate interventions.