Relación entre actividad física, salud percibida, bienestar subjetivo, depresión y enfermedades crónicas en personas mayores

Abstract

The gradual increase in longevity in our country, and the associated medical an psychosocial problems, as well as the need to not only "add years to life" but also "fill age with life " through the increase of the quality of life of our elders, posses a great challenge to society. For this reason, long-lived people acquire increasingly more social relevance, becoming the center of attention of numerous studies in all areas. In this population group, more than any other, there are marked individual differences in physical and mental functioning, and although a large part maintains its independence and autonomy, and is capable of performing everyday tasks, there are also old people who cannot take care of themselves. On the other hand, elderly is a stage of life in which there are multiple variables such as age, gender, levels of physical activity, institutionalization or loss of loved people, which can directly influence levels of well-being, quality of life, depression and lifestyle choice. Regular physical activity is important to keep or increase physical capabilities and, consequently, to maintain independent living. In addition to the benefits in physical capacity, several investigations support the relationship of exercise with the optimum psychological health and feelings of well-being. The present study aims at analyzing the perception of health, levels of subjective well-being and depression experienced by elderly people according to the levels of physical activity and the condition of chronic diseases associated with age. The sample consisted of 263 individuals, of whom 95 were men and 168 women, aged 65 to 98 years. During the pilot phase, we administered a battery of five questionnaires: socio-demographic questionnaire, SF-36 Short Form Health Survey, Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Psychological Well-being Scale (EBP), and Yale Physical Activity Scale (YPAS) Health-related results of participants were associated to certain variables. So, those people that suffered from any chronic disorder appeared to have a subjective perception of their health worse than other subjects that remained more active physically. Similarly, it was observed that men get higher scores than female in all factors of the SF-36 questionnaire. It was also seen than those belonging to the groups of older subjects had a worse perception of quality of life, being institutionalized people those with lower scores when compared to non-institutionalized subjects. As for depression, we found out that people with chronic illness, living in institutions for the elderly or belonging to the female gender, had higher levels of this medical condition in comparison to healthier, not institutionalized subjects or men, respectively. In the same line, subjects who had a habit of practicing exercise, RELACIÓN ENTRE ACTIVIDAD FÍSICA, SALUD PERCIBIDA, BIENESTAR SUBJETIVO, DEPRESIÓN Y ENFERMEDADES CRÓNICAS EN PERSONAS MAYORES ÍNDICE GENERAL 4 independently from suffering or not any ailment, presented significantly less depression compared with the least active. Well-being was also affected by chronic conditions, as demonstrated by the fact that people who did not suffer any pathology scored significantly more in the EBP scale that subjects with chronic illness. Differences according to gender were also observed, with men reaching higher scores compared to women. Results from the Yale questionnaire indicated that the presence of a chronic illness, gender and the level of institutionalization negatively influenced exercise practice, being women and non institutionalized participants those who remained most active. In correlational analyses, we found positive relationships between the SF-36 questionnaire, the EBP scale and the Yale questionnaire depending on the variables studied and negative among the GDS scale and other instruments. This would indicate that higher the levels of physical activity, better is the perception of the quality of life and well-being, and lower the presence depressive symptomatology. Finally, we can conclude that changes caused by disease can be a trigger for depressive disorders and jeopardize quality of life, demonstrating that the regular practice of physical activity can generate benefits for health, both physical and mental, of older people, regardless of age, gender, institutionalization and the suffering chronic illness.