Older women over 65: even small amounts of exercise on a daily basis can reduce risks of being admitted at a health facility

In recent studies, scientist have discovered that the more elderly women exercise, the higher their mobility is, the less they need to be hospitalized, and the more money they will save the health system. This might sound somewhat logical, but it is not. Of course, younger people will undoubtedly be faster, stronger and leaner as a result of exercise, but if we take into account that older people
suffer from more chronic diseases, have less muscle mass, have different body compositions and functioning, and are more likely to get injured, this is quite an exciting discovery to make.

Even small amounts of exercise on a daily basis can reduce your risks of being
admitted at a health facility. This will certainly be good news for a lot of people.
After all, who would rather sleep in a hospital bed instead of their own?

Researchers in Australia have conducted a study with adult women between 73 and 78 years of age. They analyzed the relationship between physical activity and the probability of being hospitalized in the future. The study followed 3851 women that were separated into 4 groups: subjects who did high, moderate or low volumes of daily physical activity, as well as inactive ones. Scientist found
that all three groups that had any amount of physical activity during their daily routines had lower odds of finding themselves in the need of being hospitalized. Yes, even patients in the group that reported low amounts of activity during the day were less likely to be in need to stay at a hospital! This suggests that even small amounts of exercise on a daily basis can reduce your risks of being
admitted at a health facility. This will certainly be good news for a lot of people. After all, who would rather sleep in a hospital bed instead of their own?

Women that did high and intermediate amounts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) could walk larger distances in shorter periods of time and could also take more steps per day than those who only did low amounts.

During this same study, researchers also discovered that the group with low physical activity during the day was less costly for the government than those who didn't have any physical activities in their daily routines. Likewise, the moderate activity group also lead to lower expenses than those in the low-activity group, and highly active subjects were the cheapest to treat. This means that the more exercise you do, the less you will have to deal with doctors and the more money you can save the state so that it can be used in other highly resource-demanding areas like newer equipment, better medications, and more health professionals to assist you.

Ultimately, both studies concluded that even in advanced ages, active women will have tremendous benefits from constant physical activity that inactive ones won't.

In addition, these women were asked to perform 2 further physical tests. The Timed up-and-go Test which measures the time that a person takes to get up from a chair, walk 3 meters, turn around, walk back to the chair, and sit down; and the so-called Five-times-sit-to-stand test, to assess general balance, mobility, and lower limb strength. Women in the 2 more active groups did much better in
both tests than the more sedentary individuals. Ultimately, both studies concluded that even in advanced ages, active women will have tremendous benefits from constant physical activity that inactive ones won't.

It is well known that healthy inactive elderly people have a mortality rate twice as big as active ones'. Moreover, we know that constant physical activity can lead to maintaining muscle mass, reducing fat percentages and controlling disturbances of gait.

These researches have confirmed that these changes the exercise brings will actually lead to significant changes in the performance of elderly women in different sorts of activities in their daily routines. If we see this as an opportunity to have a more independent, pleasant life, it truly is a given that you should start exercising daily, if your
current health and physical conditions allow you to.
Believe us, you will thank yourself in the future.

References:
1. Peeters GMEE, et al. Associations between physical activity, medical costs and
hospitalisations in older Australian women: Results from the Australian Longitudinal Study
on Women's Health. J Sci Med Sport (2017)

2. Rava, Anni, et al. Associations of distinct levels of physical activity with mobility in
independent healthy older women. Experimental Gerontology (2018)