Awareness of Exercise as Medicine Among Rural and Urban Geriatric Populations

Background: Regular physical activity is an important component of healthy aging and contributes to the prevention and management of several chronic health conditions.The concept of exercise as medicine emphasizes appropriately prescribed physical activity as part of health promotion and disease management.However, awareness of this concept may vary between rural and urban older adults.Objective: To assess and compare awareness of exercise as medicine among rural and urban geriatric populations.Methods: A cross-sectional comparative observational study was conducted among 96 older adults aged 60 years and older residing in selected rural and urban areas of Karad, Maharashtra.The study included 48 rural and 48 urban participants recruited using nonprobability convenience sampling.Awareness was assessed using a self-developed questionnaire consisting of 10 yes/no questions addressing the role and benefits of exercise in older adults.Descriptive statistics were used, and awareness scores were compared using Welch's independent-samples t-test.Results: Four rural participants had incomplete questionnaire responses and were excluded from the total awareness score analysis.The mean awareness score was 6.93 ± 3.44 among rural participants (n = 44) and 8.60 ± 2.00 among urban participants (n = 48).Urban participants demonstrated significantly higher awareness scores (t = -2.819,df = 67.76,p = 0.0063).Conclusion: Older adults in both rural and urban areas demonstrated awareness of the health-related benefits of exercise.However, urban participants had significantly higher awareness scores.Communitybased health education and physiotherapist-led programs may help strengthen awareness of exercise as medicine among older adults.