Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Mendeley  

Zotero  

johari S, mosalla nezhad Z, Falsafian R. Evaluation of the Relationship between Lifestyle and Health among the Elderly Visiting Tehran’s Parks in 2010. MEJDS 2014; 4 (3) :10-14
URL: http://jdisabilstud.org/article-1-366-en.html

Objectives: Nowadays more people reach old age as life expectancy increases. Among the main causes of disease among the elderly are risky behavior such as smoking, lack of exercise and unhealthy eating habits. Hence, many lifestyle-related diseases are preventable. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between lifestyle and health among the elderly in Tehran.

Methods & Materials: A cross-sectional descriptive - analytical study was conducted. Forty elderly people visiting Tehran’s parks were selected through convenience sampling. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data. The validity and reliability of the tool had been evaluated before the study and the results were acceptable. Descriptive-analytical statistical methods were used to analyze data.

Result: The mean age of the participants was 69.12 years. Nine (27.3%) of them were female and the rest were male. 72.7% were married. 54.5% were illiterate or had primary education, 18.2% had secondary to high school education, and 27.3% had an educational level higher than high school. The mean hours of sleep at night was 7.76 (±1.35). 21 individuals (65.6%) were non-smokers, 15 (21.9%) were smokers, and 4 (12.5%) smoked the water-pipe. According to the final nutritional status score, 27 individuals (81.8%) had good dietary habits, and 6 (18.2%) had dangerous eating habits. Of these 69.7% were well aware of their health status, 6.1% were moderately aware and 24.3% were ill-informed about their health status. The physical fitness status of 81.8% of them was very good. 26 individuals (78.7%) had included one to three exercise programs in their daily activities. data analysis results did not show any significant relationship between the elderly health status and their education, hours of night sleep, cigarette smoking -its duration or numbers (p>0.05). However, the health status was significantly associated with physical fitness (p=0.003) and the number of exercise programs (p=0.002).

Conclusion: The health status of more than half the subjects was very good. Among the aspects related to lifestyle, including education, sleep habits, smoking habits, exercise and fitness, only the last two showed significant associations with health status. Our results are in line with those of similar studies, confirming the importance of promoting physical fitness and exercise programs in the elderly with the aim of improving their health status.