2005 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 28-39
The purpose of this study is to clarify the relation between self-efficacy for physical fitness and physical performance in the elderly. The subjects were 1,063 people (388 males and 675 females) aged 70-84 years living in a Japanese agricultural community. Self-efficacy for physical fitness was evaluated using questionnaires. Participants were asked about their self-efficacy for 'general physical fitness', 'leg strength', 'keeping one's sitting position', 'arm strength', 'standing up', 'going up stairs', 'agility', 'stability' and 'flexibility'. Each item was classified into four grades from 'I have enough' to 'I do not have enough'. Then, we analyzed the relation between self-efficacy and actual levels of physical fitness (grip strength, maximum trunk flexion in a sitting position, standing-up from sitting position, one-leg standing time with eyes open, the timed up and go test (TUG), gait velocity and step length for 10 meters) using Spearman's rank correlation coefficient. The results showed that many self-efficacy items were related to the physical performance test. For males over 75 and females over 70, scores of self-efficacy for physical fitness (range of 0-9 points) significantly correlated to standing-up from sitting position, TUG, gait velocity, and step length. Moreover, for males over 75 and females aged 70-74, the self-efficacy for leg strength significantly correlated with TUG, gait velocity and step length. The next task of this study is to clarify the usefulness of self-efficacy for physical fitness by longitudinal research.
