Association of physical performance impairments and limitations with insufficient physical activity among older adults in Brazil: results from the national health survey Functional limitations and insufficient physical activity

Purpose This study aimed to analyze the association between functional limitations variables and physical activity in older adults. Methods A cross-sectional study, including 10,446 older adults aged 60 years or more who participated in the National Health Survey, 2013. The outcome variable was physical activity in the past 90 days and the explanatory variables were functional limitations, such as impairments in basic and instrumental activities of daily living, severe fall, use of walking aids, and chronic problems in the spine. Logistic regression was performed to obtain odds ratios (OR) and respective confidence intervals (95%), using the program Stata 13.1. Results The prevalence of insufficient physical activity was 85.9% (95%CI: 85.2-86.6) and the highest odds were among older adults with two or more impairments in basic activities (OR: 2.98, 95%CI: 2.11-4.22), severe fall (OR: 1.52, 95%CI: 1.01-2.32), and use of walking device (OR: 4.65, 95%CI: 2.45-8.80). Conclusions The prevalence of insufficient physical activity was high and multifactorial, allowing the identification of profiles of greater vulnerability, which should be considered regarding the direction of public policies for rehabilitation interventions directed at the functional performance of older adults.