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Physical activity, nutritional status and quality of life in older adults from rural areas

Abstract:

Introduction: Aging brings with it a series of changes that affect health status. The presence of chronic diseases, alterations in nutritional status and unhealthy habits and lifestyles affect quality of life. Objective: To describe the nutritional status, the practice of physical activities and the perception of quality of life of older adults living in rural communities of the Riobamba canton. Methods: A basic, descriptive and cross-sectional research was carried out. Universe made up of 657 older adults belonging to rural communities in the Riobamba canton. The sample was made up of 244 people. The Coop/Wonca sheet questionnaire was used to determine quality of life. Pearson's correlation test was applied to identify the relationship between the research variables. Results: The main results included 30.74% of older adults with overweight and 17.21% with obesity; 62.30% of the people surveyed reported not performing systematic physical activities. 70.08% of older adults reported associated comorbidity, where arterial hypertension (35.67%) and hypothyroidism (21.64%) were the most reported. Females presented a worse perception of quality of life compared to male patients. Pain, performing physical activities and changes in health status were the most affected dimensions. Conclusions: There is a predominance of older adults with nutritional disorders due to excess, who do not perform systematic physical activities and whose perception of quality of life is inadequate.