Is Midlife Occupational Physical Activity Related to Disability in Old Age? The SNAC-Kungsholmen StudyShow others and affiliations
2013 (English)In: PLOS ONE, E-ISSN 1932-6203, Vol. 8, no 7, article id e70471
Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Objectives: Leisure-time physical activity (PA) has been established to be related to more years lived without disability. However, less is known about the relationship between occupational PA and disability in old age. The aim of the study was 1) to investigate whether midlife occupational PA is related to late-life disability, and 2) to test the hypothesis that the association differs according to the occupational categories of blue and white collar work. Methods: The study population was derived from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care, and consisted of a random sample of 1804 subjects aged 72 and above. The association of occupational PA during the longest held occupation with disability in old age was determined using logistic regression. Results: There was no significant relationship between occupational PA and disability in personal or instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) after controlling for demographic and health-related factors. However, in stratified analyses moderate levels of occupational PA was associated with a lower odds ratio of dependency in personal ADL amongst white collar workers, compared to low level of occupational PA (OR = 0.34 95% C1 0.12-0.98). Conclusions: Moderate levels of midlife occupational PA were associated with a decreased risk of personal ADL disability in old age among white collar workers, but not among blue collar workers. Our results highlight the importance of encouraging white collar workers to engage in physical activity during or outside work hours.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2013. Vol. 8, no 7, article id e70471
National Category
Occupational Health and Environmental Health Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-94049DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070471ISI: 000323114200086OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-94049DiVA, id: diva2:651397
Note
AuthorCount:5;
2013-09-252013-09-242022-03-23Bibliographically approved