Older Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: Energy costs of human activities in adults aged 60 and older
The development of the Older Adult Compendium fills an important gap by providing an older adult-specific system for quantifying the energy costs of physical activities, which will enhance research and practice to promote physical activity in aging populations.
The standardized MET60+ values enable more accurate comparisons and tailoring of physical activity for older adults.
College of Health researcher(s)
College unit(s)
Highlights
- Age-related differences in physical activity (PA) energy expenditure are different in older adults than adults due to a combination of loss of fat-free mass, impairment of metabolic processes, and health deterioration. These factors reduce resting metabolism and increase PA energy expenditure.
- The Older Adult Compendium of Physical Activities lists the energy expended in PA and sedentary behaviors tailored to adults ≥60 years.
- The Older Adult Compendium of Physical Activities provides a guide to identifying the intensity of PAs for exercise classes, interventions, rehabilitation, and public health initiatives.
Abstract
Purpose
To describe the development of a Compendium for estimating the energy costs of activities in adults ≥60 years (OA Compendium).
Methods
Physical activities (PAs) and their metabolic equivalent of task (MET) values were obtained from a systematic search of studies published in 4 sport and exercise databases (PubMed, Embase, SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost), and Scopus) and a review of articles included in the 2011 Adult Compendium that measured PA in older adults. MET values were computed as the oxygen cost (VO2, mL/kg/min) during PA divided by 2.7 mL/kg/min (MET60+) to account for the lower resting metabolic rate in older adults.
Results
We identified 68 articles and extracted energy expenditure data on 427 PAs. From these, we derived 99 unique Specific Activity codes with corresponding MET60+ values for older adults. We developed a website to present the OA Compendium MET60+ values: https://pacompendium.com.
Conclusion
The OA Compendium uses data collected from adults ≥60 years for more accurate estimation of the energy cost of PAs in older adults. It is an accessible resource that will allow researchers, educators, and practitioners to find MET60+ values for older adults for use in PA research and practice.