Types of leisure time physical activities (LTPA) of community-dwelling persons who have been screened positive for dementia

Background: To (a) describe the pattern of leisure time physical activities (LTPA) in community-dwelling persons who have been screened positive for dementia and (b) determine the health-related and sociodemographic factors associated with LTPA. Methods: Data of the general practitioner-based, randomized, controlled intervention trial, DelpHi-MV (Dementia: life- and person-centered help in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) were used. Patients aged 70 years or older, who lived at home and had a DemTect< 9 were informed about the study by their General practitioners and invited to participate. Data from 436 participants with complete baseline data were used. Standardized, computer-assisted assessments were made during face-to-face interviews at the participants' homes. Results: Two hundred thirty-eight patients (54.6%) carried out LTPA (men 58.4%, women 51.8%). Physically active patients mentioned one to two different activities; diversity of LTPA was higher for men than for women. The most-frequently mentioned types of activity were gardening (35.3%), cycling (24.1%) and mobility training (12.4%); there was only a statistically significant difference between men and women in cycling, chi(2)(1) = 21.47, p < .001. The odds of LTPA increased with increasing quality of life (OR = 2.41), lower impairments in activities of daily living (OR = 0.85), and living in a rural environment (OR = 2.02). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that people who have been screened positive for dementia living in a rural area are more likely to be active than people living in an urban area. Following studies should investigate whether this difference has an effect on the progression of dementia.