Exploring Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity among Older Adults Living in Low-Population Density Regions: Gender Differences and Associations with Activity Dimensions
Older people in low-population density regions tend to have fewer resources to engage in
regular physical activity (PA) compared to their counterparts in urban areas. Moreover, PA assumes
different dimensions, and the amount of PA related to each dimension may differ between women
and men, predisposing them to different PA practices. Therefore, this cross-sectional study aims to
describe the prevalence of barriers to PA, gender differences, and their associations with different PA
dimensions. A total of 259 older adults (153 women and 106 men; age, 75.17 8.05 years old) living
in the community in the region of Guarda (Portugal) were interviewed face to face to record their
sociodemographic characteristics, general health status (comorbidity index and self-reported health),
PA behaviour, and barriers to PA.Women were more likely to report “low” income and living alone
(p 0.05), while men reported a higher negative health status than women (p < 0.05). Two intrinsic
(“Fear of injury” (40.1%) and “Need for rest” (26.3%)) and two extrinsic barriers (“Lack of nearby
facilities” (30.5%) and “I don’t have transport” (25.6%)) were the most prevalent. For women, age,
self-reported health, comorbidity index, and intrinsic and extrinsic barriers were similarly associated
with the different PA dimensions. However, only self-reported health and extrinsic barriers were
the variables associated with the different PA dimensions in men. Therefore, strategies to promote
active ageing in low-population density regions should be focused on reducing intrinsic and extrinsic
barriers based on gender and the PA dimension to be achieved.
This study was funded by PORTUGAL2020 and by the Fundação para a Ciência e a
Tecnologia (FCT, I.P.), under project SAICT-POL/23811/2016 and through the Portuguese Foundation
for Science and Technology, I.P., under project UIDB/04045/2020. The Polytechnic of Guarda partly
supported the research reported in this publication.
