Elderly Health Journal

Introduction: There are many factors that affect the level of physical activity and body mass index of the elderly. The current study aimed to assess the relationship of physical activity facilitators and body mass index of Kashan elderly.

Methods: The cross-sectional study sampled 400 elderly older than 60 referred to 10 healthcare centers in Kashan, 2014, via multistage quota method. Participations were tested under demographic characters, body mass index(BMI) level, and exercise benefits part of exercise benefits and barrier scale (persian version) for measurig physical activity facilitators. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, descriptive statistic, Spearman correlation test, Chi-Square and Ordinal regression.

Results: Of the participations73.6% were overweight or obese. Median and interquartile range of physical activity facilitators was 75 and 33 respectively. The most prominent  physical activity facilitators was" physical activity increases my physical ability, (83.2%). There was a significantly inverse relationship between physical activity facilitators score and BMI of participants (r = -0.233, p = 0.001). Ordinal regression evealed that mostly predictor of BMI among physical activity facilitators was "physical activity improves the quality of my work " (OR = 8.683, o = 0.001).

Conclusion: Results identified physical activity facilitators directly is related to improve physical circumstances of the elderly people. Surly poviding physical activity facilitators through educational and interventional programs may improve the health status of aging population.