Metrics details. Evidence on the relation between leisure-time physical activity LTPA and health-related quality of life HRQoL in older adults is based primarily on clinical trials of physical exercise programs in institutionalized persons and on cross-sectional studies of community-dwelling persons. Prospective cohort study of 1, persons aged 62 and over.
Analyses were done with linear regression and adjusted for the main confounders. Finally, the number of sitting hours showed a gradual and inverse relation with the scores on most of the SF scales, which was also clinically relevant.
Physical activity reduces the risk of numerous diseases, like ischemic heart disease,[ 1 ] stroke,[ 2 ] diabetes mellitus[ 3 ], and cognitive disorders,[ 4 ] as well as total mortality [ 5 ]. Health-related quality of life HRQoL is a global indicator of health resulting from the individual's perception of the impact that diseases exert on different spheres of life physical, mental and social.
Most of the evidence on the relation between leisure-time physical activity LTPA and HRQoL has been obtained in cross-sectional studies in middle-age adults [ 6 , 7 ]. However, little evidence exists in the case of the elderly. This evidence is based on clinical trials of the short-term effect of exercise programs in patients with chronic diseases, who are often institutionalized,[ 8 , 9 ] and in cross-sectional studies, which have limited capacity to establish causal relations because HRQoL itself may influence the ability to do physical activity [ 10 β 16 ].
Finally, there is growing consensus that sedentary behavior has a harmful effect on health independently of the total volume of physical activity performed [ 18 ].
