Impact of physical fitness on activities of daily life among the Chinese elderly

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of impairment on daily life and to determine the correlation between physical fitness and activities of daily life among the Chinese elderly. Methods: Data were extracted from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study database. Chi-square tests were performed to explore the prevalence of impairment of activities of daily life among the elderly with different characteristics. Binary logistic regression method was used to identify the relationship between physical fitness and activities of daily life. Results: The overall prevalence on the impairment of basic activities in daily life was 6.6% (297/4 355) and the prevalence of impairment of instrumental activities on daily life was 26.0% (1 167/4 485), among the Chinese elderly. Factors as BMI, muscle strength, ability of balance and the ability of activities were all closely related to activities of daily living, but differences between blood pressure and ADL presented no statistical significance. Conclusion: Physical fitness could affect the activities of daily life at different levels. Elderly with higher or lower BMI, poorer muscle strength, ability on balance and activities were at a greater possibility to suffer from the impairment of ADL.