Physical activity has many health benefits, even among older adults diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), yet relatively little research has characterized the typical daily activities of people with AD as compared to their non-impaired counterparts. Modern technology allows us to objectively measure the amount and intensity of physical activity, but other methods are still needed to link objective amount and intensity data to information about types of activities. Older adults rarely engage in structured exercise or sports. Thus, we evaluated the types of everyday activities in which older adults with and without AD engage and the objectively measured activity counts generated by those activities. In older adults with (n=38) and without (n=47) AD, we measured physical activity for one week, objectively using a thigh-worn postural monitor (ActivPalTM), and subjectively using activity diaries. Activity counts were averaged over 30 minute intervals to match the diaries. Sedentary activities were the most common self-reported activity type (38.4% of all waking self-reported activity, mean 83.1 counts/min), followed by indoor chores (19.4%, 88.7 counts/min) and errands away from home (14.0%, 89.1 counts/min). During leisure walking, participants with AD had lower objective activity counts/min than those without AD [F(1,55)=9.4, p<0.01], suggesting they walk less vigorously. Objective activity counts were lower in participants with AD [F(1,65)=5.7, p<0.05] and women [F(1,65)=9.4, p<0.01] during outdoor chores, suggesting less vigorous engagement. Understanding differences by AD status and gender during common types of unstructured physical activities may help to design more effective and targeted physical activity interventions to promote health.
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