Physical Activity in Older Adults: The Stages of Change

Abstract

Most older adults are not physically active and are stereotypically presumed to be relatively "set in their ways. " We measured stages of change among a sample of older adults and compared them between active and inactive subgroups. Participants (n = 59) aged 59-80 (M = 64.9) completed the Stages of Change scale about their levels of physical activity: 18 were exercise program participants; 20 were a matched group of retirees; 21 had particcpated in an Elderhostel program. We hypothesized that stage levels would be nonlinear and differ significantly and that the profiles of stages between groups would be nonparallel. Results support both hypotheses. For the total sample, action and maintenance subscale scores were higher than precontemplation subscale scores. Between groups, the exercise and Elderhostel groups scored higher on action and maintenance that the retiree group, while the retirees scored higher than the others on precontemplation. We present discussion and implications for intervention programming and future research.