Promoting Stair Climbing as an Exercise Routine among Healthy Older Adults Attending a Community-Based Physical Activity Program

Stair climbing provides a feasible opportunity for increasing physical activity (PA) in daily living. The purpose of this study was to examine the daily walking and stair-climbing steps among healthy older adults (age: 74.0 ± 4.9 years; Body Mass Index (BMI): 22.3 ± 2.5 kg/m²). Participants (34 females and 15 males) attended a weekly 6-month community-based PA program. During the entire program period, daily walking and stair-climbing steps were recorded using a pedometer (Omron, HJA-403C, Kyoto, Japan). Before and after the 6-month program, height, body weight and leg muscle strength were assessed. After the 6-month program, the mean walking and stair-climbing steps in both women and men increased significantly (p ≤ 0.01). Daily stair-climbing steps increased about 36 steps in women and 47 steps in men. At the end of 6 months, only male participants had significant correlation between the number of stair steps and leg muscle strength (r = 0.428, p = 0.037). This study reported that healthy older adults attending the community-based PA program had regular stair-climbing steps during daily living. Promoting stair climbing as an exercise routine was feasible to increase their walking and stair-climbing steps.Chiba Prefectural University of Health Sciences [2015-E5]; University of Arizona [2461610]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at repository@u.library.arizona.edu