@article {7586, title = {Leisure-time physical activity and leukocyte telomere length among older women.}, journal = {Exp Gerontol}, volume = {95}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Sep}, pages = {141-147}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Shortened leukocyte telomere length (LTL), a purported marker of cellular aging, is associated with morbidity and mortality. However, the association of physical activity, a modifiable lifestyle behavior, with LTL has not been adequately studied among older adults.

METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we examined associations of various intensity levels of leisure-time physical activity with LTL among 1476 older white and African American women from the Women{\textquoteright}s Health Initiative Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health study. Self-reported physical activity was assessed by questionnaire, and LTL was measured by Southern blot. The association between physical activity and LTL was evaluated using multiple linear regression models adjusted for demographic characteristics, lifestyle behaviors, and health-related variables.

RESULTS: Women were on average aged 79.2 (standard deviation 6.7) years old. In the final model adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, smoking, alcohol, body mass index, a history of chronic diseases, and hormone therapy use, LTL was on average 110 (95\% confidence interval, 20-190) base pairs longer among women in the highest (>=17.00MET-hours/week) compared with the lowest (<1.25MET-hours/week) level of total leisure-time physical activity (P for trend=0.02). Higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (P for trend=0.04) and faster walking speed (P for trend=0.03) were also associated with longer LTL in the fully-adjusted models.

CONCLUSION: Older women participating in greater amounts of total leisure-time physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity had longer LTL.

}, issn = {1873-6815}, doi = {10.1016/j.exger.2017.05.019}, author = {Shadyab, Aladdin H and Lamonte, Michael J and Kooperberg, Charles and Reiner, Alexander P and Carty, Cara L and Manini, Todd M and Hou, Lifang and Di, Chongzhi and Macera, Caroline A and Gallo, Linda C and Shaffer, Richard A and Jain, Sonia and LaCroix, Andrea Z} } @article {8619, title = {Accelerometer-Measured Sedentary Patterns are Associated with Incident Falls in Older Women.}, journal = {J Am Geriatr Soc}, year = {2020}, month = {2020 Nov 30}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Falls cause significant problems for older adults. Sedentary time is associated with lower physical function and could increase the risk for falls.

DESIGN: Prospective study.

SETTING: Sites across the United States.

PARTICIPANTS: Older women (N = 5,545, mean age 79 years) from the Women{\textquoteright} Health Initiative Objective Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Health study.

MEASUREMENTS: Accelerometers worn at the hip for up to 1 week collected measures of daily sedentary time and the mean sedentary bout duration, a commonly used metric for sedentary accumulation patterns. For up to 13 months after accelerometer wear, women reported daily whether they had fallen on monthly calendars.

RESULTS: In fully adjusted models, the incident rate ratios (95\% confidence interval) for quartiles 1 (lowest), 2, 3, and 4 of sedentary time respectively were 1.0 (ref.), 1.07 (0.93-1.24), 1.07 (0.91-1.25), and 1.14 (0.96-1.35; P-trend = .65) and for mean sedentary bout duration was 1.0 (ref.), 1.05 (0.92-1.21), 1.02 (0.88-1.17), and 1.17 (1.01-1.37; P-trend = .01), respectively. Women with a history of two or more falls had stronger associations between sedentary time and falls incidence compared with women with a history of no or one fall (P for interaction = .046).

CONCLUSIONS: Older women in the highest quartile of mean sedentary bout duration had a significantly increased risk of falling. Women with a history of frequent falling may be at higher risk for falling if they have high sedentary time. Interventions testing whether shortening total sedentary time and/or sedentary bouts lowers fall risk are needed to confirm these observational findings.

}, issn = {1532-5415}, doi = {10.1111/jgs.16923}, author = {Rosenberg, Dori E and Rillamas-Sun, Eileen and Bellettiere, John and LaMonte, Michael and Buchner, David M and Di, Chongzhi and Hunt, Julie and Marshall, Stephen and Stefanick, Marcia and Zhang, Yuzheng and LaCroix, Andrea Z} }