Gender and longitudinal changes in physical activities in later life.
OBJECTIVE
to describe gender differences in levels of, and longitudinal changes in, habitual physical activity among older people.


METHODS
longitudinal study.


METHODS
sub-groups of survivors (with sample sizes dependent on the availability of complete datasets, ranging from 303-344) assessed on three occasions: 1985, 1989 and 1993 in Nottingham, UK. All were 65 years and over in 1985.


METHODS
descriptive presentation (median and range values) of quantitative longitudinal data by gender across five activity categories assessed in a recall-based questionnaire.


METHODS
participation in walking, shopping, indoor, outdoor and leisure activities.


RESULTS
while levels of indoor and outdoor activities were marked by decline for both sexes, gender differentials were maintained over the 8 years of the study, with women showing higher levels of activity participation indoors and men showing higher levels of activity participation outdoors. In levels of walking/shopping activity, however, there was evidence of gender differentials reducing over time.


CONCLUSIONS
within these cohorts of older people traditional gender roles continue to exert a strong influence on levels and types of habitual physical activity well into later life. In some areas of activity, however, temporal changes provide some evidence of gender convergence consistent with late-life transitions in marital status and dependency.
Department of Human Communication, De Montfort University, Scraptoft, Leicester, UK. kmb@dmu.ac.uk
K M
KM
Bennett
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires