Objectives: Activities of daily living are currently the simplest form of activity. For many people this is the only activity in which they participate. In this connection, it is important to determine the level of physical activity connected with daily habits including occupational activities. The main goal of the presented study has been to assess the level of activities of daily living in different age groups and its differentiation by season and working (WD) and non-working days (NWD).
Material and methods: The study group (urban citizens, N = 106) was divided into young (Y) (N = 40), middle-aged (M) (N = 38), and senior (S) (N = 28) participants. The daily step number on 7 consecutive days during 4 seasons between June 2012 and 2013 was counted objectively using pedometers. The long-form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was completed each season as a subjective assessment.
Results: The daily step number for the whole group for the year was (median) 6615 (range: 3648-10 709), fewer than recommended. The median (Me) was highest in group M (Me = 6994, range: 3648-10 709) followed by Y (Me = 6957, range: 4094-10 321) and S (Me = 5469, range: 3743-8955). The lowest daily step number occurred in winter (M = 6208, Y = 6063, S = 5242), and the highest in spring (Y = 7385) or summer (M = 7717; S = 6095). All groups had a greater daily step number on WDs compared to NWDs (Y: 8411 vs. 5744, M: 7612 vs. 5839, S: 6327 vs. 4580; p < 0.01 for all). Pedometer-tracked values did not correlate with the IPAQ results.
Conclusions: Activity level in Polish urban society is low, especially on NWDs and in colder months. The daily number of steps is highest in the middle-aged group, which may be connected with working status. Objective methods are recommended for assessing physical activity level. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2018;31(1):47-54.
Keywords: IPAQ; health behavior; occupational physical activity; physical activity level; sedentary behavior; urbanization.
This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.