Physical activity, fitness, and all-cause mortality: An 18-year follow-up among old people.

Background: Little is known about change in physical activity (PA) and its relationship to all-cause mortality among old people. There is even less information about the association between PA, fitness, and all-cause mortality among people aged 80 years and above. The objective is to investigate persistence and change in PA over 5 years as a predictor of all-cause mortality, and fitness as a mediator of this association, among people aged 80 and 85 years at the beginning of an 18-year mortality follow-up period.

The current state and developments in higher education in gerontology in the nordic countries.

The growing size of the older population challenges not only researchers but also higher education in gerontology. On the basis of an online survey the authors describe the situation of Nordic higher education in gerontology in 2008 and 2009 and also give some good examples of Nordic- and European-level collaboration. The survey results showed that gerontological education was given in every Nordic country, in 31 universities and 60 other higher education institutions.

Improvements in functional capacity from Nordic walking: a randomized-controlled trial among elderly people.

This study examined the effects of an instructed structured Nordic walking (NW) exercise program on the functional capacity of older sedentary people. Volunteers were randomly assigned to an NW group (68.2 ± 3.

Independent and combined association of physical activity and cardiac disease on mortality risk in the very old.

Objective: This study investigated physical activity as a predictor of all-cause mortality among 75- and 80-year-old people with and without chronic cardiac disease over a 10-year follow-up period.

Method: Using the Evergreen Project data, four study groups were formed according to the respondent's self-reported level of physical activity as well as chronic cardiac diseases: active without cardiac disease (control group = ANCD), active with cardiac disease (ACD), sedentary without cardiac disease (SNCD), and sedentary with cardiac disease (SCD).

Results: In the analyses, the ACD (HR 1.

European initiatives in postgraduate education in gerontology.

This paper describes three innovative European initiatives in postgraduate education in gerontology. The first is the European Masters Program in Gerontology (EuMaG), developed as an interdisciplinary joint program, supported and delivered by 22 European universities. Second, the Nordplus initiative to increase mobility of students and staff in the field of gerontology in the European Nordic countries is elaborated.

Speculations on the future of taught masters courses in gerontology: lessons from a comparison of England, Scotland, Finland, and Spain.

Postgraduate education in gerontology is now widespread within European universities, but, even so, such developments remain very uneven. This paper outlines the variety of provision by describing Master's programmes in a sample of countries: England, Scotland, Finland, and Spain. These programmes illustrate some of the common problems: lack of funding for students, limited availability of academic staff, and reliance on a small core of dedicated teachers.

Physical activity and self-rated health among 55- to 89-year-old Dutch people.

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of physical activity and the possible mediating role of perceived physical self-efficacy (PPSE) on self-rated health (SRH) in the 55- to 89-year-old Dutch population. The data are based on a structured interview carried out in a random sample of 120 subjects--60 men and 60 women with the average ages of 69 and 71 years, respectively--in Sassenheim, the Netherlands, as a pilot study of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA). The results of linear multiple regression analyses showed that physical activity was a significant predictor of self-rated health.

Physical activity and related factors among nursing home residents.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine physical activity and the predictors of physical activity and exercise among nursing home residents.

Design: Population study.

Participants: The sample (n = 190) was obtained by selecting every man and every second women from the entire nursing home population (n = 346) in the city of Jyväskylä, central Finland, in autumn 1989.

Muscle strength according to level of physical exercise and educational background in middle-aged women in Finland.

The aim of this study was to examine the role of socio-economic status and the practice of physical exercise in explaining variation in muscle strength in 50 to 60-year-old women. Consequently, four study groups combining education and physical activity were formed: (1) university education, physically active; (2) university education, sedentary; (3) vocational or lower level of education, physically active; (4) vocational or lower level of education, sedentary. Maximal isometric strength of hand grip, arm flexion, body flexion and extension as well as dynamic power of the abdominal muscles were measured in 112 women.

Bone mineral density and physical activity in 50-60-year-old women.

The bone mineral density (BMD) of the calcaneus was measured utilizing a single energy photon absorption method in 108 women, aged 50-60 years. The women who participated in vigorous exercise two or more times a week or whose total physical activity amounted to 4 h a week had significantly higher BMD values than those who exercised less than two times a week or did less than 4 h physical activity a week. The physically active women also showed higher values for leg extension force and maximal oxygen uptake.

Effect of eight weeks' physical training on muscle and connective tissue of the M. vastus lateralis in 69-year-old men and women.

Five one-hour exercise periods a week for 8 weeks included walking-jogging, swimming, gymnastics and ballgames for 26 healthy male and female 69-year-old pensioners. The mean maximal oxygen uptake of the men increased from 28.9 ml-kg-1-min-1 before training to 32.

Effects of "lifelong" physical training on functional aging in men.

Functional aging was examined in a cross-sectional study of 22 habitually trained and 22 sedentary men (aged 34 to 70 and 33 to 68, respectively) by using various physiological, psychophysiological, and anthropometric measurements. Compared to the control group, the trained subjects had significantly higher maximal oxygen uptake, vertical velocity, maximal breathing capacity, percentage of slow twitch muscle fibers, and muscle isocitrate dehydrogenase activity, in addition to lower values in body weight, systolic as well as diastolic blood pressure, patellar reflex time, serum triglycerides, and fast twitch muscle fibers (particularly glycolytic fibers). The results showed that the effects of endurance training are largely limited to functions which are apparently relevant to physical performance.