Normative values for the physical activity scale for the elderly in community-dwelling men and women 45 to 85 years old: an analysis from the CLSA.

BACKGROUND

Monitoring and improving physical activity levels is essential for promoting healthy aging. The objective of this study was to create age-specific normative values for the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE) among community-dwelling women and men aged 45-85 years old.

METHODS

36,701 participants (47% female) aged 45-85 years old, free of any mobility limitation or activities of daily living disability from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) were included. Best fitting models were identified using Generalized Akaike Information Criteria values and cross-validation. Seasonal differences for males and females were also explored.

RESULTS

Separate models for males and females are presented, providing a range of percentile values (5-95%) in charts and tables. Total PASE scores were highest in 45-year-olds and decreased with age. Seasonal differences were not substantial or consistent at the population level.

CONCLUSIONS

The age- and sex- specific normative values provided can improve the interpretability of PASE scores among middle-aged and older adults. In addition to PA guideline cut-offs, normative values provide further information for monitoring physical activity by allowing for more personalized observations that account for healthy variation.