Sex Is Associated With Physical Activity And Mobility Among The Oldest Old

PURPOSE: This study examined the association between sex and physical activity (PA) and mobility in a sample of older adults aged ≥80 years. METHODS: We used data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging second wave (2019-2020), a population-based study conducted among adults aged 50 years and older. However, only data from those aged ≥80 years were included. Three questions related to PA frequency and four questions related to mobility were used in the analysis. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and the Chi-square test was used to examine the association between sex and the described variables with a significance set at P< 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 1172 individuals aged ≥80 years were included in the analysis (84.9±4.6 years; 25.9±5.2 kg/m2; 62.2% female). Chi-square test revealed an association between sex and walking frequency (χ2=17.66, P< 0.001) with 21% of males reporting walking ≥5 days per week compared to 14.6% of females, and between sex and the frequency of moderate (χ2=15.55, P< 0.001) and vigorous (χ2=10.75, P= 0.005) intensity PA engagement, with 8.3% of males reporting partaking in ≥5 days in moderate and 2.1% in vigorous activities compared to 3.9% and 0.3% of females, respectively. Analysis further revealed a significant association between sex and difficulty in walking one kilometer (χ2=40.41, P< 0.001) with 64.4% of males reporting difficulty in this task compared to 81.1% of females, and walking 100 meters (χ2=41.61, P< 0.001) with 43.4% of males reporting difficulty compared to 62.8% of females. Sex was also associated with difficulty in climbing one (χ2=32.65, P< 0.001) or several (χ2=42.35, P< 0.001) flights of stairs (males reporting 74.3% and 52.0% 87.4% and 71.0% of females, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate a significant association between sex and PA and mobility parameters (favoring males) among individuals aged 80 years and older.