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Do “Young-Old” Exercisers Feel Better Than Sedentary Persons? A Cohort Study in Switzerland*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Christian J. Lalive d'Epinay  and
Jean-François Bickel
Christian J. Lalive d'Epinay*
Affiliation:
University of Geneva, Switzerland
Jean-François Bickel
Affiliation:
University of Geneva, Switzerland
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-a-part doivent être adressé e s à: Christian J. Lalive d'Epinay, Centre for Interdisciplinary Gerontology (CIG), University of Geneva, 59, route de Mon Idée, CH-1226 Geneva (Thônex), Switzerland. ([email protected])
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Abstract

From a “successful aging” perspective, the subjective feeling of well-being is as important as “objective” health. Physical exercise is seen as being an effective way of staying healthy, but its link with well-being in a normal aging population remains largely unexplored. Based on two randomized surveys of the aging population, conducted in 1979 and 1994, respectively, with questionnaires including retrospective questions on activities and health, two cohorts of young-old (aged 64–74) were selected (cohort 1, born 1905–1914, N = 949; cohort 2, born 1920–1929, N = 602) and split into four groups, corresponding to their exercising trajectories (long-term exercisers LE, new exercisers NE, quitters Q, sedentary S). The link between the four trajectories and two indicators of well-being (self-rated health, self-assessed depression scale) was examined by means of regression analyses. In both cohorts, the LE group had a higher level of well-being than the Q and the S. The study also throws light on the case of the quitters (Q), who showed the lowest level of well-being. Scant research has hitherto been done on the causes and repercussions of abandoning exercise.

Résumé

Selon le paradigme du « vieillissement réussi », le sentiment de bien-être est aussi important que la sant é «objectiv e.» L'exercice physique est considéré comme un facteur important de la santé ; cependant, son lien avec le bien-être au sein de la population vieillissante n'a été que peu exploré. Sur la base de deux enquêtes sur échantillons aléatoires de la population âgée menées l'une en 1979 et l'autre en 1994, qui comprenaient des questions biographiques, deux cohortes de personnes de 65 à 74 ans ont été sélectionnées (cohorte 1, née en 1905–1914, N = 949 ; cohorte 2, née en 1920–1929, N = 602) et réparties en quatre groupes selon leur trajectoire sportive (sportifs constants LE ; nouveaux sportifs NE ; anciens sportifs Q ; sédentaires S). Le lien entre ces trajectoires et deux indicateurs de bien-être (santé auto-évaluée et échelle de dépression auto-évaluée) a été examiné au moyen d'analyses de régression. Dans les deux cohortes, LE présente un niveau de bien-être supérieur à Q et S. Cette étude attire également l'attention sur les anciens sportifs (Q), qui ont le plus faible niveau de bien-être ; l'abandon de l'exercice physique et ses causes étant jusqu'à ce jour négligés par la recherche.

Keywords

vieillissementphysical exercisewell-beingcohort studySwitzerlandagingactivités sportivesbien-êtreétude de cohorteSuisse
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 22 , Issue 2 , Summer/L'été 2003 , pp. 155 - 165
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2003

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Footnotes

*

This research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. 1214–52377). We wish to thank Barry McPherson (Wilfrid Laurier University) and the two CJA reviewers, for their helpful comments and suggestions; Nathalie Vollenwyder (Geneva), for the preliminary analyses she made; and Ian Hamilton (Geneva), for his editorial work.

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