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BACKGROUND: In 2015, intrinsic capacity (IC) was proposed by the WHO as a new measure for healthy aging. Evidence has shown that physical activity (PA) benefits the physical and mental health of older adults. However, the association between PA and IC among older adults was not well evaluated or reported. This study aims to investigate the association between PA and general and specific IC among Chinese older adults. METHOD: The study included individuals aged 60 and above from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study in 2015. The IC scores were constructed based on the WHO concept of five domains: psychological capacity, cognition, locomotion, vitality, and sensory abilities. Total PA and leisure PA were measured based on different activity purposes. Linear mixed-effects models and generalized linear mixed-effects models were developed to assess the associations between PA and IC. RESULTS: < 0.05) compared to those with low-level leisure PA. In addition, PA was positively and significantly associated with three specific IC domains: locomotion, cognition, and vitality. CONCLUSIONS: Improving both general and leisure PA can be an effective way to prevent the decline in IC among older adults, thus reducing the personal and public load of primary healthcare for aging countries such as China.
Zhou et al. (Fri,) studied this question.