The association of physical-performance level with attitude toward exercise in older adults

The Hebrew Home Study of Impairment and Exercise is a cross-sectional community-based study of nondisabled adults age 75-85 years that assessed attitude toward exercise by asking level of agreement with four statements evaluating participants' perceptions of the health benefits and personal rewards of exercise. A physical-performance battery evaluated lower extremity function on a scale of 0 to 12. Attitude toward exercise was compared across 4 groups: non-vigorous exercisers with scores of 4-6 (n = 21), 7-9 (n = 90), or 10-12 (n = 113) and vigorous exercisers (n = 71). Vigorous exercisers had a significantly better attitude toward exercise than the reference group did, with odds ratios of 1.8-5.5 in all attitude statements. The lowest and moderate-performance groups had less positive attitudes toward exercise than the reference group did, with odds ratios of 0.27-0.62 for all statements. There was a highly significant gradient with better attitude toward exercise and higher functional-status level. Future work in improving older adults' compliance with exercise should take into account the less positive attitude of those with functional limitations toward the benefits of exercise.