The determinants of exercise behavior of the elderly aged fifty-five and over in senior college of Taipei presbyterian church

• Main Authors: Chen Shiu-Chu, 陳秀珠
• Other Authors: Ching-Mei Lee
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1999
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/99734466900851659785

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 衛生教育研究所 === 87 === The main purpose of this study was to investigate the current exercise behavior of the elderly aged fifty-five and over, and to explore its relationships with demographic characteristics, and cognition and perceptions of exercise (including knowledge of exercise, perceived benefits of exercise, perceived barriers to exercise, perceived self-efficacy for exercise, and perceived social support for exercise). The data were collected from 287 individuals in six senior colleges of Taipei presbyterian church by self-administrated questionnaire or interview on March 1999. Chi-square, Logistic Regression, one-way ANOVA, point-biserial correlation, and MANOVA were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that: (1) 78.4% of subjects did regular exercise, and 21.6% exercised irregularly. The main types of exercise done by the elderly were walking, followed by calisthenics. Most of the elderly did low-intensity exercise. They took about 5.3 hours a week to do regular exercise. (2) The elderly''s knowledge of exercise was in middle level. It varied with ages, educational level, living expense, perceived exercise amount, and past regular exercise habit. (3) The elderly''s perceived benefits of exercise was substantial. It varied with The elderly''s perceived health status, perceived exercise amount, and past regular exercise habit. (4) The elderly''s perceived barriers to exercise was quite few. It varied with disease status, perceived health status, perceived exercise amount, past regular exercise habit, living expense, and exercise information. (5) The elderly''s perceived self-efficacy for exercise was in middle level. It varied with educational level, perceived health status, past regular exercise habit, and living expense. (6) The elderly''s perceived social support for exercise was in middle level. The support for exercise from family was the most frequently mentioned support. The exercise support from friends varied with perceived health status, perceived exercise amount, and past regular exercise habit. The support from health professionals varied with exercise information. (7) There were significant differences between regular exercise behavior and (a) perceived exercise amount, and (b) past regular exercise habit. In addition, regular exercise behavior was significant correlated with knowledge of exercise, perceived benefits of exercise, perceived barriers to exercise, perceived self-efficacy for exercise, and perceived social support for exercise. (8) Past regular exercise habit and perceived barriers to exercise were significant predictors of regular exercise behavior. Past regular exercise habit was the most important predictor of regular exercise behavior. Based on the findings of the study, decreasing the elderly''s perceived barriers to exercise, emphasizing the correct cognition of exercise and promoting the elderly''s health-related fitness were suggested for improving the elderly''s exercise quantity and quality. In addition, picking up the different sample, and the different variable and improving research methods were suggested for future researches.