Socio-Demographic and Leisure Activity Determinants of Physical Activity of Working Warsaw Residents Aged 60 to 69 Years

The purpose of the study was to assess factors determining physical activity in persons at the age of 60-69 years in an urban area. The study included 262 working residents of Warsaw at the initial period of old age. The study utilized a questionnaire consisting of two parts. The first part concerned recreational and touristic activities in the previous year. The second is a Polish version of IPAQ, assessing the respondents' level of activity throughout the past week. Based on IPAQ results, the respondents were divided into physically active and inactive ones. The active group included people meeting moderate to vigorous physical activity, whereas the inactive group included people who took up no physical activity at all or those with a low physical activity level. The relations between taking up physical activity and the variables characterizing the demographic structure as well as touristic and recreational activity of the respondents were assessed with the use of a log-linear analysis. Out of the variables taken into account, age, education and participation in physical recreation proved to be significant factors in taking up activity by the elderly. The odds ratios computed for the analyzed variables indicate that the risk of being inactive increases over two times after exceeding 65 years of age; a risk of similar magnitude was also observed in case of less educated populations. Regular participation in physical recreation provides a four-times increase in the chances to achieve levels of physical activity sufficient to remain healthy.