Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105965

Seung-youn Hong, PhD Candidate, Dept. of Community Health Science, Center for Research on Health and Aging, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1747 W. Roosevelt Road # 558, MC 275, Chicago, IL 60608, 312-996-0865, yoni91@hotmail.com, Susan L. Hughes, DSW, School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, Center for Research on Health and Aging, 1747 W. Roosevelt Road # 558 MC 275, Chicago, IL 60608, and Thomas Prohaska, PhD, Center for Research on Health and Aging, University of Illinois at Chicago, 850 W. Jackson (M/C 275), Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60607.

Multiple studies have examined the impact of exercise on sedentary older adults. However, little work has examined the influence of participants' demographic (i.e., age, gender) and physical characteristics (i.e., health status, BMI) on exercise adherence defined as either completion (CR) or attendance (AR). We examined this issue using data from 30 exercise RCTs published between 1980 and 2001 that targeted sedentary seniors and provided completion rates (CR), attendance rates (AR), and participants' body mass index (BMI). Thirty-seven exercise intervention groups (n=1191; Age: M±SD= 68.82±6.80; 20Aerobic, 14 resistance, and 3 multi-component exercise with mean duration of 24 weeks) were analyzed with block entry hierarchical regression analysis. Exercise characteristics (intensity, length per week) were entered as the first block. Participants' demographic variables were entered as the second block and finally physical characteristics were entered as the last block. Findings revealed that neither of exercise characteristics not demographic characteristics were significant predictors of CR. However, health status (t=2.425, p=.023) and gender (t=2.892, p=.008) were significant predictor of CR. CR among studies that selected participants with chronic conditions was higher than that of studies that did not use this criterion (91.96±8.40 vs. 84.19±8.22, p= .02). In contrast, exercise duration was the only significant predictor of AR (p=.009), explaining 44.3% of the variance. We conclude that exercise attendance and completion rates are influenced differently by participants' physical characteristics and exercise characteristics. Importantly, the fact that gender and health influence completion but not attendance rates needs to be considered in designing future exercise interventions.

Learning Objectives:

• At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to
• 3. 1. identify different predictors of exercise completion and attendance rates in sedentary older adults.
  4. 2. discuss further direction of the research for predictors of exercise adherence
  5. 3. discuss strategy to enhance exercise adherence in exercise for sedentary older adults

Keywords: Adherence, Exercise

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.