Limited Activity

Indicator Definition
Adults (ages 65 and older) who report that poor mental or physical health kept them from doing usual activities such as self-care, work or recreation eight or more days in the past month.

Older adults who report limited activity eight or more days within past month in Colorado4

Older adults who report limited physical activity eight or more days within past month by sex in Colorado5

Indicator Significance 
Chronic diseases often limit physical activity because of the functional limitations that accompany them.¹ Arthritis—a term that encompasses more than 100 different diseases and conditions—is the leading cause of disability and functional limitation in the United States. As the population ages, it is estimated that arthritis will affect 67 million adults by 2030. The 2003 – 05 National Health Interview Survey estimates that 21.6 percent of the adult U.S. population is limited in some way by arthritis. In addition, arthritis affects more than half of adults with diabetes and heart disease. Each year, arthritis-related conditions lead to more than 75,000 hospitalizations. Direct medical costs were $81 billion in 2003. Effective ways to prevent arthritis and lessen its symptoms include weight control, injury prevention, early diagnosis and symptom management and physical activity.

Colorado Specifics
More than one in five older adults in Colorado reports being unable to engage is such usual activities as self-care, work or recreation because of deficient physical or mental health. Emerging national evidence suggests the rate of disability among older Americans is declining. This may be true in Colorado as well. Improved public awareness of the factors that contribute to healthy aging such as exercise, diet and community involvement, along with better management of chronic conditions, will contribute to this positive change over time. There do not seem to be strong differences between older females and males who report limited activity because of poor physical or mental health.

Promising Initiatives
In Colorado
The Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program (COPAN) awarded eight grants to organizations throughout Colorado that promote physical activity for older adults. Several grant recipients have used the funds to train staff and to purchase age-appropriate equipment. The town of Buena Vista and the Upper Arkansas Area Agency on Aging have used the funding to launch the Arthritis Foundation Self-Help Program, a six-week course that has been demonstrated to reduce arthritis pain by 20 percent and physician visits by 40 percent.²

Elsewhere
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed the National Arthritis Action Plan: a public health strategy in partnership with the Arthritis Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and numerous other partner organizations. The plan is a coordinated national effort to address the growing incidence of arthritis in the United States. In 2008, $13 million in federal funds will be used to implement the plan in 36 states.³ 

Older adults who report limited physical activity eight or more days within past month⁶

Text

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Targeting Arthritis: Improving Quality of Life for More Than 46 Million Americans”; July 29, 2008.
   
2. Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition Program.
   
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Targeting Arthritis: Improving Quality of Life for More Than 46 Million Americans”; July 29, 2008.
   

Charts

4. Source: Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2000 – 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Data for 2002 are not available because the question for this indicator was not included in the survey that year.
   
5. Source: Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   
6. Source: Colorado Health Institute analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2007, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.