Is Self-Reported Physical Activity Participation Associated with Lower Health Services Utilization among Older Adults? Cross-Sectional Evidence from the Canadian Community Health Survey

Table 6

The association between LTPA and health services utilization in the 80 years and older age group ( = 6,555).

	80 years and older age group
	Unadjusted			Adjusted^*
	OR/IRR^a	(95% C.I.)	Sig	OR/IRR	(95% C.I.)	Sig
GP services
At least 1 GP contact
Moderately active	0.74	(0.55–1.01)	0.058	0.77	(0.52–1.15)	0.199
Active	0.84	(0.60–1.19)	0.324	1.26	(0.78–2.03)	0.340
Number of GP consultations^a
Moderately active	0.82	(0.74–0.92)	<0.001	0.93	(0.83–1.04)	0.225
Active	0.72	(0.65–0.81)	<0.001	0.90	(0.79–1.02)	0.113
Specialist physician services^*
At least 1 specialist contact
Moderately active	1.12	(0.92–1.37)	0.263	1.26	(0.98–1.61)	0.068
Active	0.95	(0.74–1.21)	0.660	1.10	(0.80–1.50)	0.570
Number of specialist consultations^a
Moderately active	0.91	(0.69–1.20)	0.516	0.98	(0.80–1.21)	0.865
Active	0.91	(0.68–1.21)	0.506	1.06	(0.81–1.40)	0.661
Hospital services^†
Overnight hospitalization
Moderately active	0.69	(0.53–0.89)	0.004	0.89	(0.65–1.22)	0.483
Active	0.48	(0.34–0.67)	<0.001	0.68	(0.43–1.06)	0.087
Number of nights in hospital^a
Moderately active	0.77	(0.55–1.08)	0.132	0.99	(0.69–1.43)	0.966
Active	0.72	(0.48–1.09)	0.119	1.19	(0.79–1.79)	0.401

The estimate is an incidence rate ratio (IRR).
Note: analyses adjusted for the following (reference category in italics): age; sex (male/female); marital status (married: yes/no); education (graduated secondary: yes/no); ethnicity (non-Aboriginal/Aboriginal); employment status (employed: no/yes); household size (1, 2, 3, or more people); dwelling size (<3 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms, >3 bedrooms); immigration status (nonimmigrant, immigrant); injury in previous 12 months (no/yes); limitation in ADLs (no/yes); smoking status (never smoked/former smoker/nonsmoker); exposed to 2nd hand smoke (no/yes); alcohol consumption (<1 drink daily/at least 1 drink daily); BMI (<25.0 kg·m²/25.0–29.9 kg·m²/≥30 kg·m² or greater); time spent walking to work or to run errands (none/<1 hour/≥1 hour); cycling to work or to run errands (no/yes); typical daily activity level (usually sitting/standing or walking/lifting light and/or heavy loads); annual household income (<$15,000; $15,000–$29,999; ≥$30,000; missing); province (ON, MB, AB, BC, SK, QC, NB, NS, PE, NL, YT/NT/NU); urban-rural classification (urban/rural); language (able to speak English and/or French: yes/no); has regular family doctor (yes/no); self-rated general health (excellent/very good/good; fair/poor); self-rated mental health (excellent/very good/good; fair/poor); diagnosed with hypertension, cardiovascular disease (including stroke), COPD, asthma, diabetes, cancer, neurological conditions, rheumatological conditions, back problems, gastrointestinal disorders, mood/anxiety disorders, or other chronic conditions (no/yes for each); number of chronic conditions (none/1 condition/2 conditions/3 conditions/4 or more conditions).
Analyses of specialist services also adjusted for number of GP consultations.
Analyses of hospital services also adjusted for specialist physician consultations (yes/no).