Relationship between the practice of physical activity and the functionality of older people from primary care health: Mediation by sedentary behavior

Abstract Introduction This study aimed to analyze the relationship between the practice of physical activity and the functionality of older people in primary health care, mediated by sedentary behavior. Material and methods A cross-sectional study carried out with 654 older people from primary health care in Maringa, Brazil. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire and the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 were used. Data analysis was conducted through Structural Equation Modeling ( p Results The direct effect of sedentary behavior on functionality was weak and significant ( β  = .10; p p β  = −.11) direct effect on sedentary behavior. When mediated by sedentary behavior, the relationship between vigorous activity and functionality showed a weak reduction in the total effect (−.10 to −.09), with an indirect effect of β  = .01. Conclusions Sedentary behavior acts to reduce, weakly, the effect of vigorous activity on the functionality of older people.