Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the participants across PA trajectories.
| Constantly high physical activity (n=27 634) | Decreasing physical activity (n=11 095) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognition | |||
| Immediate recall, mean ± SD | 5.5 ± 1.6 | 4.7 ± 1.8 | <0.001 |
| Verbal fluency, mean ± SD | 21.5 ± 7.3 | 17.9 ± 7.1 | <0.001 |
| Delayed recall, mean ± SD | 4.1 ± 2.0 | 3.2 ± 2.0 | <0.001 |
| Sociodemographic characteristics | |||
| Age, mean ± SD | 61.2 ± 8.0 | 66.8 ± 9.6 | <0.001 |
| Women, n (%) | 15 095 (55) | 6819 (62) | <0.001 |
| High education 1 , n (%) | 6 601 (24) | 1 487 (13) | <0.001 |
| Highest decile of household net worth, n (%) | 3 228 (12) | 644 (6) | <0.001 |
| Urban residence 2 , n (%) | 7 667 (28) | 3 061 (28) | 0.76 |
| Employed or self-employed, n (%) | 11 166 (40) | 1 750 (16) | <0.001 |
| Two or more household members, n (%) | 22 958 (83) | 8 418 (76) | <0.001 |
| Partner in household, n (%) | 21 488 (78) | 7 693 (69) | <0.001 |
| Two or more children, n (%) | 20 721 (75) | 8 128 (73) | <0.001 |
| Two or more grandchildren, n (%) | 13 154 (48) | 6 727 (61) | <0.001 |
| Region, n (%) | |||
| Western Europe | 11 618 (42) | 4 107 (37) | <0.001 |
| Scandinavia | 3 334 (12) | 743 (7) | |
| Southern Europe | 4 459 (16) | 2 870 (26) | |
| Central and Eastern Europe | 7 204 (26) | 2 820 (25) | |
| Israel | 1 019 (4) | 555 (5) | |
| Health-related characteristics | |||
| High depressive symptoms 3 , n (%) | 5 909 (21) | 3 945 (36) | <0.001 |
| One or more limitations in IADL, n (%) | 2 026 (7) | 2 682 (24) | <0.001 |
| One or more chronic diseases, n (%) | 19 536 (71) | 9 542 (86) | <0.001 |
| One or more mobility limitations, n (%) | 10 269 (37) | 7 326 (66) | <0.001 |
| Smoking, n (%) | 18 997 (69) | 7 762 (70) | 0.02 |
| Alcohol, n (%) | 4 960 (18) | 1 567 (14) | <0.001 |
| Obesity 4 , n (%) | 4 984 (18) | 3 202 (29) | <0.001 |
| Poor diet 5 , n (%) | 6 032 (22) | 2 950 (27) | <0.001 |
1
International Standard Classification of Education level 5 or 6;
2
big city, its suburbs or outskirts;
3
4 or more points on EURO-D scale;
4
body mass index 30 and more;
5
fruits or vegetables less than every day
SD, standard deviation; IADL, instrumental activities of daily living