Perceived Health, Physical Activity and Sport among the Elderly of Spain

Rafael Serrano-del-Rosal, Lourdes Biedma-Velázquez, David Moscoso-Sánchez, María Martín-Rodríguez

Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Institute for Advanced Social Studies, Spanish National Research Council (IESA-CSIC), Córdoba, Spain.
Social Sciences Department, Pablo de Olavide University, Sevilla, Spain.

DOI: 10.4236/aasoci.2013.32020                

Abstract

Purpose: It determines if participating in sports and/or physical activity influences perceived health among the elderly. Basic procedures: Data were drawn from a population subsample of subjects aged 65 - 79 years old that took part in a survey conducted in 2008 by the IESA-CSIC. A regression model was performed with perceived health status with the dependent variable and sociodemographic characteristics and physical activity as independent variables. Results: Physical activity is closely associated to perceived health, although sport has little influence on this relationship. Conclusions: Doing exercise or feeling that one is physically active makes the elderly feel better about their health status. However, this age group practises few sports and sport is not found to have an important or constant influence on self-perceived health status among the elderly.

Keywords

Perceived Health; Physical Activity; Sport; Elderly

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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