Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between physical fitness
and the cessation of work among members of the Silver Human Resources Center.
Methods: The participants included 737 elderly individuals (male, n=458; female, n=279).
The components of physical fitness (muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, coordination
ability, and flexibility) were measured using self-reported methods. In the present study, the
cessation of work was defined as having no work for the past year due to concerns about one＇s
own physical fitness. A logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association
between the components of physical fitness and the cessation of work.
Results: Forty-seven participants had ceased work according to the abovementioned
definition. In a model adjusted for sex, age, BMI, and medication use, two of the components of
physical fitness (muscle strength and cardiorespiratory fitness) were significantly associated with
the cessation of work. In a model that was additionally adjusted for other components of physical
fitness, there were no significant linear relationships between any of the components of physical
fitness and the cessation of work (p for trend ＞ 0.05); however, the participants with mid-level
muscle strength had a significantly lower odds ratio for the cessation of work (0.34; 95% confidence
interval, 0.14 - 0.85) in comparison to those with low-level muscle strength (reference).
Conclusion: The present study showed that physical fitness, especially muscle strength,
was significantly associated with the cessation of work among members of the Silver Human
Resources Center.
