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Home / American Journal of Health Behavior, Volume 40, Number 3

Correlates of General and Domain-Specific Sitting Time among Older Adults

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Objective: We examined the correlates of sitting time in a population-based sample of older adults. Methods: Adults >55 years of age (N = 1296; N = 515 employed; N = 781 unemployed) self-reported measures of demographic and health-related variables, and a measure of sitting time (ie, SIT-Q). Results: Employed total sitting time (min/day) was positively associated with home Internet access (B = 71.2, 95% CI, 8.9 to 133.4, p = .025), body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2; B = 7.0, 95% CI, 2.1 – 11.9, p = .005), and negatively associated with physical health (B = -2.3; 95% CI, -4.9 to 0.3, p = .013). Unemployed total sitting time was negatively associated with age (B per year = -3.0, 95% CI, -4.9 to -1.1, p = .002), and being male (B = -54.0, 95% CI, -86 .7 to -21.3, p = .001). Unemployed total sitting time was positively associated with Internet access (B = 54.1, 95% CI, 17.7 to 90.4, p = .004) and BMI (B = 4.1, 95% CI, .94 to 7.3, p = .011). Conclusions: Older adults reported low levels of sitting time. Different correlates emerged for the employed and unemployed samples across sitting domains.

Keywords: EMPLOYMENT STATUS; OLDER ADULTS; SEDENTARINESS

Document Type: Research Article

Affiliations: 1: Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair, Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, Canada;, Email: [email protected] 2: Professor and Canada Research Chair, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 3: Senior Research Fellow, Cancer Epidemiology Centre, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia 4: NHMRC Research Fellow, School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 5: Research Lead, Nutrition Services, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 6: Lecturer in Epidemiology, Department of Primary Care & Population Health, University College London Medical School, London, United Kingdom 7: Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Disciplines, Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, Canada

Publication date: 01 May 2016

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  • The American Journal of Health Behavior seeks to improve the quality of life through multidisciplinary health efforts in fostering a better understanding of the multidimensional nature of both individuals and social systems as they relate to health behaviors.

    The Journal aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of personal attributes, personality characteristics, behavior patterns, social structure, and processes on health maintenance, health restoration, and health improvement; to disseminate knowledge of holistic, multidisciplinary approaches to designing and implementing effective health programs; and to showcase health behavior analysis skills that have been proven to affect health improvement and recovery.

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