Factors Affecting Physical Activity Behavior Among the Elderly in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand

Background and Aim: Physical activity significantly impacts the elderly's quality of life. Despite its importance, insufficient activity levels among older adults remain a critical public health concern. This study aimed to examine physical activity behavior, explore the relationships between personal, predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors with physical activity behavior, and identify the factors affecting physical activity behavior among older adults in Chiang Mai Province. Materials and Methods: A multi-stage sampling method was employed to select a sample of 400 elderly individuals in Chiang Mai Province. The research instrument was a questionnaire with an item-objective congruence index of 0.80, evaluated by three experts, and a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.85. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and multiple regression analyses. Results: The physical activity behavior of the elderly in Chiang Mai Province was low. Knowledge about the benefits of physical activity was the only factor that did not correlate with physical activity behavior. Attitude was found to have a low correlation with physical activity behavior (r=0.120, p<.05), while enabling factors and reinforcing factors showed moderate correlations (r=0.390, p<.05 and r=0.359, p<.05, respectively). The multiple regression analysis yielded the prediction equation: Physical activity behavior = 2.070 + (0.993 ENABLING FACTORS) + (0.485 EINFORCING FACTORS). This equation explained 16.4 percent of the variance in physical activity behavior among the elderly in the province (R2 = 0.164, SEE = 1.023). Conclusion: The study highlights the significance of enabling and reinforcing factors in shaping physical activity behavior among the elderly in this region. These findings can inform the development of targeted interventions and policies to promote active aging, while considering the specific cultural, social, and environmental contexts of the region.