Barriers to Physical Activity among Older Adults with Cardiometabolic Disease: A Convergent Parallel Mixed-Methods Study in Kunshan City, China

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) offers numerous benefits for older adults with hypertension and diabetes, such as improved blood pressure and glucose levels and reduced risk of complications. However, due to various practical challenges, around 3 quarters of Chinese older adults fail to meet the World Health Organization (WHO)'s recommended PA levels. Therefore, this study aims to explore the barriers to PA among older adults with cardiometabolic disease in Kunshan City.This study adopts a convergent parallel mixed-methods approach. Questionnaire (n=144) and interview (n=29) data from older adults (aged 65 years and older) were collected. Regression analysis was used to examine the association between PA level and various factors, including age, sex, education level, self-rated health status, physical ability, number of cardiometabolic diseases, smoking habit, alcohol habit, and family support score. Content analysis was applied to the interviews. The two forms of data were then integrated to provide greater insights. This study identified that the most common barriers among the study population (most 65-75 years old) were “physical barriers,” “bad weather”, “lack of motivation”, “safety concern”, and “lack of time”. Future interventions should focus more on addressing these barriers.