Date Presented 03/21/24
The potential of IADLs as an intervention tool to increase activity levels and similar activity levels between lab and home environments during bed-making and vacuuming among healthy older adults are discussed.
Primary Author and Speaker: Charlotte Pete
Additional Authors and Speakers: Haleigh Katherine Solochier, Shaila Kennedy, Sarah R. Core, Young Joo Kim
PURPOSE: This study examined the differences in activity levels 1) among instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and physical activity (PA) and 2) between lab and home environments during IADLs in healthy community dwelling older adults. Lifestyle physical activity has many benefits including lowering risk for disease and improving cognitive and physical functioning [1,2]. Our study investigated the potential of IADLs as an alternative to traditional PA exercise.
DESIGN: An observational, repeated-measures design was used. Participants are 42 healthy older adults without activity restrictions. Participants have been recruited from the local community and senior community centers using a non-probability, convenient sampling.
METHOD: Participants wore four ActiGraph GT9X Link accelerometers on their dominant and non-dominant wrists and hips to collect objective activity levels (vector magnitude 3 [VM3] counts). Participants performed 10-min bed making, 10-min vacuuming, and 10-min walking 2.5 mph (all at 3.0-3.3 MET levels) in lab environment and their own home environments. Friedman tests with post-hoc tests for Aim 1 and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests for Aim 2 were used with an alpha level of .05.
RESULTS: The preliminary analyses (N=19) showed significant differences in VM3 counts among bed-making, vacuuming, and walking (x2=29.16, p<.001) with bed-making showing the highest VM3 counts in both lab and home environments. No significant difference in VM3 counts between lab and home environments during bed-making or vacuuming was found.
CONCLUSION: The preliminary results show that 1) IADLs have the potential to serve as an alternative to the PA exercise to increase activity levels for health benefits and 2) IADL activity levels measured in lab environment may predict those of home environment. These findings are important for practice and science by demonstrating the value of IADLs as a means to increase activity levels in healthy older adults.
References
Warburton, D. E. R., & Bredin, S. S. D. (2017). Health benefits of physical activity: A systematic review of current systematic reviews. Current Opinion in Cardiology, 32(5), 541–556. https://doi.org/10.1097/HCO.0000000000000437
Rozanski, A. (2023). New principles, the benefits, and practices for fostering a physically active lifestyle. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pcad.2023.04.002
