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The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences Advance Access published online on April 6, 2009
The Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, doi:10.1093/gerona/glp029
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Physical Activity History and End-of-Life Hospital and Long-Term Care

Mikaela B. von Bonsdorff1, Taina Rantanen1, Raija Leinonen2, Urho M. Kujala3, Timo Törmäkangas1, Minna Mänty1 and Eino Heikkinen1

1 Department of Health Sciences, Finnish Centre for Interdisciplinary Gerontology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
2 GeroCenter Foundation for Research and Development, Kinkomaa, Finland
3 Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Address correspondence to Mikaela B. von Bonsdorff, MSc, Finnish Centre for Interdisciplinary Gerontology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35 (Viveca), Jyväskylä FIN-40014, Finland. Email: mikaela.bonsdorff{at}sport.jyu.fi


  Abstract

Background: Little is known about the early predictors of need for care in late life. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether physical activity from midlife onward was associated with hospital and long-term care in the last year of life.

Methods: We studied a decedent population of 846 persons aged 66–98 years at death, who, on average 5.8 years prior to death, had participated in an interview about their current and earlier physical activity. Data on the use of care in the last year of life are register-based data and complete.

Results: Men needed on average 96 days (SD 7.0) and women 138 days (SD 6.2) of inpatient care in the last year of life. Among men, the risk for all-cause hospital care in the last year of life was higher for those who had been sedentary since midlife (adjusted incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.98, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.14–3.42) compared with those who had been consistently physically active, whereas use of long-term care did not correlate with physical activity history. Among women, the risk for long-term care was higher for those who had been sedentary (IRR 2.03, 95% CI 1.28–3.21) or only occasionally physically active (IRR 1.60, 95% CI 1.06–2.43), than for those who had been consistently active from midlife onward, whereas use of hospital care did not correlate with physical activity history.

Conclusion: People who had been physically active since midlife needed less end-of-life inpatient care but patterns differed between men and women.

Keywords Aging; Physical activity; Health care; Chronic diseases; Decedent population; Disability

Received: March 7, 2008; Accepted: January 23, 2009

Decision Editor: Darryl Wieland, PhD, MPH


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