PHYSICAL ACTIVITY NEEDS OF OLDER ADULTS IN BANGKOK METROPOLITAN

Abstract

The purpose of this survey research was to study physical activity needs of older adults in Bangkok Metropolitan. Samples were 440 older adults (74.3% female, 25.7% male) who were selected by multistage random sampling from 1,040,804 populations in 50 districts of Bangkok Metropolitan. The research instrument (physical activity needs of older adults) was the self-administered questionnaire. The content validity of the questionnaire (IOC) was in the range of 0.71-1.0, as well as the alpha coefficient reliability correlation (Cronbach) was 0.96. Data were analyzed by frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation.

          Findings were found that the most older-adult participated in physical activity at 8-10(43.90 %) in the morning, and then at 10-12 (35%). Three priority physical activity categories that older-adult prefer most were recreational activity ( = 2.46), building strength activity ( = 2.31) and building balance activity ( = 2.18) respectively. The physical activity category that older-adult prefer less was building flexibility activity ( = 1.90). When considering items in each category, three priority physical activity items that older-adult prefer most were walking on the line ( = 3.18), stretching muscle ( = 3.09), and swing arms ( = 3.05) respectively. Moreover, three priority physical activity items older-adult prefer less were walking above things ( = 1.43), building flexibility with balls ( = 1.49) and dancing ( = 1.50) respectively. In conclusion, physical activity needs of older-adult in Bangkok in categories of aerobic ( = 2.06), strength ( = 2.31), flexibility ( = 1.90), balance ( = 2.18), and recreation ( = 2.46) were at the low level. It can be further this research to develop physical activity program for older-adult in Bangkok Metropolitan.