Chronic diseases have a crucial effect on the health-related quality of life for middle-aged and older adults, but physical activity can improve their health— as can using the internet for health-related purposes, a new study finds.
The report was published Wednesday in BMC Public Health.
The authors say it’s vital to promote physical activity and internet use in order to foster healthy behaviors among older adults who have chronic diseases.
The team evaluated internet usage, physical activity and health status among people with 14 chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, cancer, liver disease, stroke, dementia and heart issues.
Researchers used data from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), which included over 13,000 Chinese adults over the age of 45. The average age was nearly 62 years old.
Results suggested that the severity of chronic disease significantly negatively predicted both the physical and the mental aspects of health-related quality of life. (HRQoL).
While chronic diseases can interfere with physical activity, the researchers found that some physical activity is usually helpful, at least for the physical component summary (PCS) of HRQoL, but not necessarily for the mental summary component (MCS).
“Our findings confirm that physical activity partially mediates the relationship between chronic disease and PCS, while it masks the relationship between chronic disease and MCS,” the authors wrote.
Physical activity has been linked with better fitness and reduced risk of disease, but can also improve the quality of life in older adults, the data showed.
The authors also found that internet use in older adults with chronic diseases can ease the negative effects of chronic diseases on both PCS and physical activity. This may be because it enables people to search for medical information about their conditions; it could also improve their confidence in using technology and their cognition. However, too much internet use could result in less time engaging in physical activity. “Therefore, we believe that Internet use may reduce the risk of certain chronic diseases, but it is essential to use the Internet in a healthy manner, particularly to avoid prolonged sedentary behavior,” the authors wrote.
