Objectively Measured The Impact Of Ambient Air Pollution On Physical Activity For Older Adults

Air pollution poses a significant health risk to the human population, especially for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, potentially discouraging their engagement in physical activity. PURPOSE: To explore the impact of air pollution on physical activity among older adults engaging objective measurement longitudinal study design. METHODS: 184 older adults’ participants in total were recruited from three cities with varying levels of air quality. Mean daily minutes of physical activity were measured with 7 consecutive days of accelerometer monitoring. Corresponding air pollution data including daily PM2.5 (μg/m3), PM10 (μg/m3) and AQI were sourced from the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre at the monitor locations close to older adults’ address. Associations between air quality and physical activity were estimated using fixed effect model, adjusting for average daytime temperature, rain, age and weight. RESULTS: AQI and PM2.5 were observed to exhibit significant, inverse, and linear associations with mean daily walk steps, minutes of LPA, MPA and MVPA in the single variable models. A one-level increase in AQI corresponded to a decline in 550.04 steps (95% [CI] = -858.97, -241.10; p < 0.001), 10.43 (95% [CI] = -17.07, -3.79; p < 0.001), 4.03 (95% [CI] = -7.48, -0.59; p < 0.001) and 4.16 (95% [CI] = -7.77, -0.56; p < 0.001) minutes in daily walking steps, LPA, MPA, and MVPA, respectively. A one-level increase in PM2.5 correlated with a decline in daily walk steps, LPA, MPA and MVPA by 361.85 steps (95% [CI] = -516.53, -207.16; p < 0.001), 8.97 (95% [CI] = -12.28, -5.66; p < 0.001), 3.73 (95% [CI] = -5.46, -2.01; p < 0.001,) and 3.79 (95% [CI] = -5.59, -1.98; p < 0.001) minutes, respectively. However, PM10 displayed a significant negative association exclusively with LPA, with one-level increase in PM10 resulting in a 3.7-minute reduction in LPA (95% [CI] = -6.81, -0.59, p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Air pollution demonstrates an inverse association with physical activity levels among older adults, potentially discouraging their engagement in physical activity. Different air quality indicators may exert varying impacts on physical activity. Future studies are warranted to enhance policy interventions aimed at reducing air pollution and promoting physical activity.