The Relationship Between Physical Endurance and Physical Activity Level of a Community in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
Background: Regular exercise and physical activity are important to the physical and mental health of an individual and this can improve balance and the increase endurance to handle the physical and emotional challenges. A society with healthy lifestyle promotes longevity besides enjoying the health benefits of regular exercise.Objective: This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between physical endurance and physical activity level of a community in Kuala Lumpur.
Methods: Inclusion criteria included subjects aged 45 to 84 years old and is ambulant without support whilst exclusion criteria are subjects who cannot follow command and is dependent on walking aids or with disability. This cross sectional study uses International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) to determine the physical activity level and the 6 Minute Walk Test (6MWT) to determine the physical endurance level. There were 33.3% (n= 15) male and 66.7% (n=30) female with mean age of 61.24 years old.
Results: Findings demonstrated that 26 (48%) subjects reported having moderate physical activity level whilst 19 (42%) reported high physical activity level. In 6MWT, several factors affected the 6 minute walked distance (6MWD) to include age (r=-0.449), height (r=0.795), leg length (r=0.880), leg fatigue (r=-0.147) and gender. Men who are taller obtained farther 6MWD when compared to women and older person. Among all these factors, only age, height and leg length have significant relationship to 6MWD with p<0.05. Leg length was observed to influence the step length (r=0.827), stride length (r=0.830) and walking speed (r=0.806). Age was also found to influence leg fatigue ( r=0.394, p=0.005) and walking speed,(r=-0.491,p=0.005) respectively.
Conclusion: Older subjects were reported to have a higher leg fatigue and slower walking speed when compared younger subjects. As age increases, the amount of physical activity and physical endurance reduces. However, the physical endurance of the individual was found not to be influence by their physical activity level as measured by the 6 MWT and IPAQ.
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