THE RELATIONSHIP OF SENIOR FITNESS TEST PARAMETERS AND SELF-REPORTED MEASURES FOR ASSESSING PHYSICAL ACTIVITY - PRELIMINARY RESULTS

Adequate and sufficient physical activity improves the quality of life in older age, extends the self-sufficiency and independence of older adults. The appropriate diagnostic tool for large scale samples can be field motor test batteries combined with a self-reported questionnaire. The purpose of this pilot study was to compare results from motor field tests with the amount of daily physical activity in the last seven days from the self-reported questionnaire. The present study had been used as a pilot test of the motor field test battery and the questionnaire before the full-scale experiment. Participants (n=19) were women, age 67-90 years (mean 77.26 +/- 6.7 years), who attended sports event "Senior day". Each participant completed three motor tests from Senior Fitness Test (SFT) battery (Rikli & Jones, 2001): Arm Curl test, 8-Foot Up-and-Go test, 30-second Chair Stand test; and Czech short version of IPAQ questionnaire together with basic socio-demographic data. STATISTICA software was used to analyze the data. Mean values for the three motor tests were: 5.9 +/- 0.9 sec. (8-Foot Up-and-Go); 19.1 +/- 4.2 reps. (Chair Stand); 19.4 +/- 3.7 reps. (Arm Curl). For the 8-Foot Up-and-Go test, 32 % of participants were above the population norm (Rikli & Jones, 2001), 63 % were in the norm and one individual was below the norm. For 30-second Chair Stand test, 74 % were above average population norm and the rest was in the norm. For Arm Curl test 68 % were above the population norm and the rest within the norm. The results from the short version of IPAQ showed that all but one women fulfilled the Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) Active Category with the mean MET-mins/week 7590 +/- 4402 (range 2712-17919). The results of 8-Foot Up-and-Go test were negatively related to the number of days with vigorous activity (r = -0.49; p < 0.05). The number of Chair Stand repetitions was positively related to the Arm Curl (r = 0.55; p < 0.05). Higher physical activity level of participants was confirmed both by the motor test and IPAQ. Even selected parameters of the SFT can give basic information about the subject's fitness level. The relationship between the motor test and self-reported measures was significant only for 8-Foot Up-and-Go and number of vigorous activity days suggesting that exercise intensity is an important factor. Furthermore, the data showed that the intensity of activity might be often under-or overestimated by the participants.