In very old and/or frail older people living in long-term care facilities, physical inactivity negatively affects activities of daily living. The main reason to assess older adults' perceived fitness is to establish the relation with their beliefs about their ability to perform physical activity adjusted to daily tasks. The Self-Assessment of Physical Fitness scale was developed to address these needs. The aim of this study was to estimate the test-retest reliability and construct validity of the scale. 76 elderly people (M age = 86.0 yr., SD = 6.3) completed the test. Cronbach's a was .71. One-week test-retest reliability ICC's ranged from .66 (SAPF aerobic endurance and SAPF balance) to .70 (SAPF sum score). Concurrent validity with the Groningen Fitness Test for the Elderly was fair to moderate. Despite the limited number of participants (N = 76), results suggest that the scale may be useful as an assessment of perceived fitness in older adults.
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Intra-ocular straylight can cause decreased visual functioning, and it may cause diminished vision-related quality of life (VRQOL). This cross-sectional population-based study investigates the association between straylight and VRQOL in middle-aged and elderly individuals. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to assess the association between straylight modeled continuously and cutoff at the recommended fitness-to-drive value, straylight ≥ 1.4 log(s), and VRQOL. The study showed that participants with normal straylight values, straylight ≤ 1.4 log(s), rated their VRQOL slightly better than those with high straylight values (straylight ≥ 1.4 log(s)). Furthermore, multivariable regression analysis revealed a borderline statistical significant association (p = .06) between intra-ocular straylight and self-reported VRQOL in middle-aged and elderly individuals. The association between straylight and self-reported VRQOL was not influenced by the status of the intra-ocular lens (natural vs. artificial intra-ocular lens after cataract extraction) or the number of (instrumental) activities of daily living that were reported as difficult for the elderly individuals.
DOCUMENT
Although cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is being recognized as an important marker of health and functioning, it is currently not routinely assessed in daily clinical practice. There is an urgent need for a simple and feasible exercise test that can validly and reliably estimate an individual’s CRF. The Steep Ramp Test (SRT) is such a practical short-time exercise test (work rate increments of 25 W/10 seconds, so the test phase will only take up to 4 minutes) on a cycle ergometer, that does not require expensive equipment or specialized knowledge, and has been found able to validly and reliably estimate an individual’s CRF. Although the SRT is already frequently used in the Netherlands to evaluate CRF, sex- and age-specific reference values for adults and elderly are lacking thus far, which seriously limits the interpretation of test results.
