PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to examine the differences in physical fitness level between those who continued to participate and those who dropped out during a 5-year longitudinal study.
METHODS: The subjects were 254 older Japanese men and women, aged 60 y and over (69.6±5.6 y), who lived independently and were able to participate in physical fitness testing only at the baseline (drop-out group: n=163, 70.1±5.5 y) or every year from 2000 to 2005 (follow-up group: n=91, 68.7±4.5 y). Seven physical-performance test items related to activities of daily living were measured. In addition, a questionnaire was used to collect information regarding self-reported exercise habituation, joint pain, health-related quality of life and health condition. Significance of differences between the drop-out group and follow-up group were tested using Student's t test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Logistic regression analysis was performed to explain characteristics of physical fitness status in the two groups. The level of statistical significance was set at P<0.05 for all analyses.
RESULTS: At the baseline, those in the drop-out group were older, had lower levels of physical fitness and more joint pains, and were physically less active than the follow-up subjects. However, health-related quality of life and health condition did not differ significantly between the two groups. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusted for age and sex, those in the drop-out group had a slower walking speed around the two cones in a figure 8 (odds ratio 1.23, 95% confidence interval 1.12 to 1.35), and were non-habituated to exercise (odds ratio 1.72, 95% confidence interval 0.97 to 3.06).
CONCLUSION: These results suggest that older adults who drop out after the baseline in physical fitness tests are older, have lower physical fitness, and are physically sedentary.
