The relationship between physical activity, function, and mortality is not established in advanced age. Physical activity, function, and mortality were followed in a cohort of Māori and non-Māori adults living in advanced age for a period of 6 years. Generalized linear regression models were used to analyze the association between physical activity and Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily Living scale, whereas Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard models were used to assess the association between the physical activity and mortality. The hazard ratio for mortality for those in the least active physical activity quartile was 4.1 for Māori and 1.8 for non-Māori compared with the most active physical activity quartile. There was an inverse relationship between physical activity and mortality, with lower hazard ratios for mortality at all levels of physical activity. Higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower mortality and higher functional status in advanced-aged adults.
Keywords: activity levels; aging; health outcomes.