Older Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: Energy costs of human activities in adults aged 60 and older

Erik A Willis; Stephen D Herrmann; Mary Hastert; Chelsea L Kracht; Tiago V Barreira; John M Schuna Jr; Zhenghua Cai; Minghui Quan; Scott A Conger; Wendy J Brown; Barbara E Ainsworth

doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2023.10.007

Older Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: Energy costs of human activities in adults aged 60 and older

J Sport Health Sci. 2024 Jan;13(1):13-17. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2023.10.007.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. Electronic address: erik.willis@unc.edu.
² Kansas Center for Metabolism and Obesity Research, The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA; Division of Physical Activity and Weight Management, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.
³ Clinical Science Division, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70808, USA.
⁴ Exercise Science Department, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.
⁵ School of Exercise & Sport Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA.
⁶ School of Exercise and Health, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China.
⁷ Department of Kinesiology, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83725, USA.
⁸ School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia; Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD 4229, Australia.
⁹ School of Exercise and Health, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China; College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85003, USA.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the development of a Compendium for estimating the energy costs of activities in adults ≥60 years (OA Compendium).

Methods: Physical activities (PAs) and their metabolic equivalent of task (MET) values were obtained from a systematic search of studies published in 4 sport and exercise databases (PubMed, Embase, SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost), and Scopus) and a review of articles included in the 2011 Adult Compendium that measured PA in older adults. MET values were computed as the oxygen cost (VO₂, mL/kg/min) during PA divided by 2.7 mL/kg/min (MET₆₀₊) to account for the lower resting metabolic rate in older adults.

Results: We identified 68 articles and extracted energy expenditure data on 427 PAs. From these, we derived 99 unique Specific Activity codes with corresponding MET₆₀₊ values for older adults. We developed a website to present the OA Compendium MET₆₀₊ values: https://pacompendium.com.

Conclusion: The OA Compendium uses data collected from adults ≥60 years for more accurate estimation of the energy cost of PAs in older adults. It is an accessible resource that will allow researchers, educators, and practitioners to find MET₆₀₊ values for older adults for use in PA research and practice.

Keywords: Energy expenditure; Exercise; MET; Older adults.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Aged
Energy Metabolism
Exercise*
Humans
Middle Aged
Physical Examination
Sports*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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