ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences2024
Physical Activity Fragmentation and Falls in Older Adults: Findings From the National Health and Aging Trends Study.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Accelerometer-measured weekly and diurnal moderate-to-vigorous physical activity patterns and incident osteoporosis.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2026Article
- Factors Associated With Falls Among the Elderly With Type 2 Diabetes in Urban Shanghai: A Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of diabetes research · 2026Article
- Site-specific pain dynamics: associations between accelerometer-measured physical activity patterns and pain in older adults.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
- Article
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4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPhysical activity (PA) may be an important fall prevention strategy. Current PA guidelines emphasize total PA dose, but daily patterning of PA is underappreciated. With aging, PA bouts become less frequent and shorter in duration (ie, more fragmented). PA fragmentation may be an indicator of fall risk, but the relationship is not well understood. This study examined daily PA accumulation and patterns with fall risk in older adults.
methodsParticipants (n = 685, 54.3% women, 61.5% aged 70-79 years) from the National Health and Aging Trends Study with wrist-worn accelerometry PA data from Round 11 (baseline) and sample person interviews with fall data from Round 12 (follow-up) were included. PA variables were categorized into tertiles and incident falls were defined as ≥1 self-reported fall in the year following the PA assessment between baseline and follow-up. A modified Poisson approach was used to estimate the relative risk of both PA accumulation and fragmentation with falls.
resultsOverall, 40.0% reported an incident fall. After adjustment for sociodemographic and health characteristics, those in the highest tertile of total PA accumulation had lower fall risk (aRR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.57, 0.95) and those in the highest tertile of PA fragmentation had increased fall risk (aRR = 1.33, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.73). Models were attenuated after adjustment for physical functioning.
conclusionsPA fragmentation may identify fall risk in older adults. Longitudinal studies are needed to disentangle the temporal sequencing of the complex relationship between PA and physical functioning across the life course.
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