The combined association of physical activity and sedentary behavior with adverse health factors is not yet clear in the literature. A combined analysis of physical activity level and sedentary behavior may provide evidence of the interrelation between these behavioral variables and the frailty syndrome. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the relationship between physical activity level, sedentary behavior and frailty in older adults. In this study, we evaluated 457 older adults (age range = 60 to 96 years old) from the Longitudinal Study of the Elderly Health of Alcobaça, Bahia. The frailty condition was defined by the presence of three or more of the following criteria: unintentional weight loss, slow walking speed measured over a 4.57 m test, a reduction of manual grip strength and exhaustion. Based upon these criteria, participants were classified as non-frail or frail. Physical activity level and time spent in sedentary behavior were assessed with the International Questionnaire of Physical Activity. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize the sample. To examine the combined association of physical activity and sedentary behavior with frailty, chi-square and Poisson regression tests were used. Statistical significance was defined as p ≤ 0.05. The prevalence of frailty was 8.8% (n = 40), with higher prevalence observed with increasing age. Low physical activity level combined with excessive time spent in sedentary behavior (physical activity level < 150 min/wk. and sedentary behavior ≥540 min/day) was associated with frailty, resulting in a prevalence ratio of 2.83 (95% CI, 1.23 to 6.52). Frailty is more prevalent among older adults who exhibit insufficient levels of physical activity combined with a great amount of time spent in sedentary behavior, even when adjusted for sociodemographic factors.

The purpose of the study was to examine the minimum number of monitoring days for reliably estimating physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) from accelerometer data in older adults. Forty-two older adults from a local senior centre participated in this study. Participants wore an ActiGraph wGT3X-BT on the right hip for 7 consecutive days. Accelerometer data were downloaded to a computer and converted to activity count data in 60s epochs. Time spent in SB and different PA intensity categories were estimated with commonly used activity count cut-points. Participants with at least 7 valid days of monitoring (≥10 h^.day⁻¹) were included in the analysis. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated for determining single-day monitoring reliability. The Spearman-Brown prophecy formula was used to estimate the minimum number of monitoring days required for achieving an ICC of 0.80. Single-day ICC values for time spent in SB and PA intensity categories ranged from 0.45 to 0.61. Minimum number of monitoring days required for achieving an ICC of 0.80 ranged from 2.5 to 4.9 days. In this study, a minimum of 5 consecutive days of monitoring was required for reliably estimating SB and PA from accelerometer data in older adults.

Identifying correlates of sedentary behavior in older adults is of major importance to healthcare. To our knowledge, there are no population studies in Latin America examining which factors are associated to high sitting time in older adults. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify socio-demographic, clinical, and health behavior correlates of sitting time in a representative sample of older adults living in Southeastern Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted in twenty-four municipalities of the Triangulo Mineiro region in the State of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. A structured questionnaire was applied to obtain information on socio-demographic, clinical, and health behavior factors. Overall sitting time was assessed using a self-report instrument. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis was used to verify the association of sitting time with socio-demographic, clinical, and health behavior factors. 3,296 older adults (61.5% women and 38.5% men) were included in the analysis. The overall median was 240.0 minutes of sitting time/day. The Multiple Correspondence Analysis showed that the group with the highest sitting time presented the following characteristics: women, age greater than 70 years, unschooled status, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, use of medication, poor self-rated health, dependence in basic activities of daily living, and absence of regular physical activity. This study reveals that socio-demographic, clinical, and health behavior factors are associated with high sitting time in older adults from Southeastern Brazil. The results may help to identify older adults that should be targeted in interventions aiming at reducing sitting time.

RESUMO Objetivo Estimar a prevalência de sintomatologia depressiva em idosos brasileiros residentes na comunidade. Métodos Foi realizada uma revisão sistemática nas bases de dados Medline, SciELO, Web of Science, Scopus e CINAHL, sendo selecionados estudos com idosos brasileiros que identificaram a prevalência de sintomatologia depressiva. De forma independente, dois pesquisadores selecionaram os estudos, extraíram os dados e avaliaram a qualidade metodológica. A metanálise foi realizada para estimar a prevalência de sintomatologia depressiva usando um modelo de efeito aleatório. Resultados Foram identificados 176 artigos e 33 foram incluídos na revisão, que investigaram 34 prevalências, com um total de 39.431 idosos. A distribuição geográfica dos estudos indicou pesquisas em todas as regiões do Brasil. A versão curta da Escala de Depressão Geriátrica foi a mais utilizada. A prevalência estimada de sintomatologia depressiva foi de 21,0% (IC de 95%: 18,0-25,0; I2 = 98,3%). As análises de subgrupos revelaram elevada heterogeneidade em todas as categorias analisadas. A metarregressão não identificou as causas da heterogeneidade. Conclusão Apesar da heterogeneidade entre os estudos analisados, os resultados indicam a necessidade de estratégias de intervenção para reduzir a prevalência de sintomatologia depressiva.

This paper aims to analyse whether time spent in sedentary behaviour was a discriminant criterion for frailty in older adults. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in a sample of 457 elderly individuals aged ≥60 years. Frailty was defined as the presence of three or more of the following criteria: Unintentional weight loss, low walking speed at a 4.57 m course, reduced manual grip strength, exhaustion and insufficient physical activity level. Participants were classified into two groups: Non-frail or frail. Exposure to sedentary behaviour was assessed by the time spent sitting during a typical week, according to the adapted version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Descriptive (mean, frequency) and inferential statistics (Poisson regression, Pearson’s Chi-square, Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve) were used to analyse the data, comparing them to the time-related areas exposed to sedentary behaviour by gender and the presence of fragility. The prevalence of frailty was 22.1% (n = 101). The most accurate cut-off points of sitting time for predicting frailty were >495 min/day (men) or >536 min/day (women). Time spent in sedentary behaviour can be used to indicate fragility in the elderly of both sexes.

Por iniciativa do Ministério da Saúde, em colaboração com pesquisadores nacionais, elaborou-se o primeiro Guia de Atividade Física (AF) para a População Brasileira, incluindo recomendações para as várias fases da vida e populações especiais. O objetivo deste estudo é apresentar o processo metodológico e os resultados do capítulo de recomendações de AF para idosos. O Grupo de Trabalho Idosos (GT Idosos) contou com a participação de 11 pesquisadores/profissionais que realizaram reuniões virtuais semanais, revisão sistemática de revisões, que incluiu 50 artigos ao final, e escutas com profissionais de Educação Física (n = 143), gestores (n = 17) e com idosos (n = 22), de todas as regiões do país, por meio de entrevistas telefônicas e formulários eletrônicos. Baseado nos resultados da revisão e das escutas, elaborou-se uma primeira versão das recomendações de AF para idosos, que foi submetida à consulta pública. No total foram recebidas 46 sugestões válidas, das quais 34 foram aceitas e incorporadas ao texto final por possuírem relevância técnica e/ou social. Como resultados, o Guia destaca os principais benefícios da AF para idosos, como melhora dos aspectos físicos, mentais e sociais, e recomenda um mínimo de 150 minutos por semana de AF de intensidade moderada, ou 75 minutos de intensidade vigorosa, considerando as AF no tempo livre, no deslocamento, no trabalho/estudo ou nas tarefas domésticas. Acredita-se que o Guia auxiliará os idosos e profissionais de saúde a conhecerem os benefícios da AF, a quantidade recomendada e as diversas possibilidades de prática, por meio de mensagens e exemplos culturalmente apropriados.