| The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parameters of functional physical fitness, physical activity and health-related quality of life among physically independent men and women aged 60 to 75 years. A secondary purpose was to determine if differences existed (1) between high and low physical activity groups for functional physical fitness and health-related quality-of-life; (2) between high and low functional physical fitness groups for physical activity and health-related quality-of-life; and (3) between high and low health-related quality-of-life groups for physical activity and functional physical fitness. A third purpose was to determine if measures of the AAPHERD functional fitness assessment could be used as a viable predictor of health-related quality-of-life, and whether inclusion of physical activity influenced this prediction.;Data were collected from 165 independently living men and women aged 60 to 75 years and analyzed using Pearson's correlation, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple regression analysis. In all cases the Bonferroni approach was used to control for Type I error. Physical activity was assessed using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. Health-related quality-of-life was assessed using the Short Form-12 Health Survey. Functional physical fitness was assessed with a test battery from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.;Greater flexibility (r = .51) and faster agility times (r = -.65) were the two independent variables strongly correlated with better health-related quality-of-life (p ≤ .008). High physical activity groups had better agility (F = 62.44, p ≤ .008), coordination (F = 17.49, p ≤ .008), strength endurance (F = 68.13, p ≤ .008), 1/2 mile endurance walk (F = 23.17, p ≤ .008), and physical component summary scores (F = 14.76, p ≤ .017). High health-related quality-of-life groups had better scores for flexibility (F = 16.72, p ≤ .008) and agility (F = 33.10, p ≤ .008). The three significant predictors of health-related quality-of-life were physical activity (beta = -.24, p ≤ .007), higher ponderal index (beta = -.24, p ≤ .007), and faster agility times (beta = -.60, p ≤ .007). Functional physical fitness variables accounted for 50 percent of the explained variance of health-related quality-of-life. With the addition of physical activity the total explained variance was 52 percent. Based on these results, the functional physical fitness variables appear to be strong predictors of HRQL while physical activity offers little additional predictive power. |
