Sedentary behavior

Sedentary behavior

LASA filenames:
LASA101
LASA301 (constructed variables, to be processed)
LASA501 (constructed variables, to be processed)

Contact: Marjolein Visser

Background
Over the last decade, it has been suggested that sedentary behavior is an important determinant of health, independent of other physical activity (1-3). Sedentary behavior is higher in older persons compared to any other age group (4,5). Based on objective measurements of sedentary behavior using accelerometers (smart-sensors), older adults are 59-75% of their time sedentary (6-17).

Measurement instruments in LASA
Sedentary behavior was assessed in the LASA study for the first time by means of a self-administered questionnaire in 2008/09 (LASA G-wave). The questionnaire consisted of 11 sedentary items that were adapted from previous questionnaires (18). The questionnaire was developed and validated among 83 LASA participants aged 65-92 years to rank older adults according to sedentary behavior (18).

  • In LASA-G the first question that was asked was how much time participant spent in bed during a weekday and weekend day. This item was meant for control purposes and was not used for calculating sedentary behavior scores.
  • In 2011/12 (LASA H wave) and in 2012/2013 (LASA 3B wave), sedentary behavior was assessed using 6 items only (indicated with an asterisk, see below).
  • During the LASA MB (Migrant) wave (2014/2015), the same 10 questions as in the G wave (leaving the first control question) were asked during the medical interview. This was done in a slightly different order (see annexed questionnaire), and only for weekdays.
  • In the I wave (2015-2016) the same 10 items were asked for weekdays as well for weekend days.

Participants were asked to complete the following questions for a weekday as well as for a weekend day. If participants performed two activities at the same time, for example listening to music while knitting, they were instructed to report only one of the two activities (arbitrarily) to avoid double counting.

On average, during a weekday (Monday – Friday), how many hours / minutes in a day (24 hours) do you ….
1* take a nap on a chair or couch? ___ h ____ min
2* read while being seated or lying down? ___ h ____ min
3* listen to music while being seated or lying down? ___ h ____ min
4* watch television, video or DVD? ___ h ____ min
5* perform a hobby while being seated, such as knitting, doing jigsaw puzzles or playing a music instrument? ___ h ____ min
6* talk (in person or on the phone) with friends, family or acquaintances while being seated? ___ h ____ min
7 sit at the computer for work or leisure? ___ h ____ min
8 perform sitting activities such as administrative tasks, writing a letter or having a meeting? ___ h ____ min
9 sit in car, bus or train? ___ h ____ min
10 visit church/mosque** or (movie) theater? ___ h ____ min
** mosque was added only for migrants (MB)
On average, during a weekend day (Saturday and Sunday), how many hours / minutes in a day (24 hours) do you ….
1* take a nap on a chair or couch? ___ h ____ min
2* read while being seated or lying down?. ___ h ____ min
3* listen to music while being seated or lying down? ___ h ____ min
4* watch television, video or DVD? ___ h ____ min
5* perform a hobby while being seated, such as knitting, doing jigsaw puzzles or playing a music instrument? ___ h ____ min
6* talk (in person or on the phone) with friends, family or acquaintances while being seated? ___ h ____ min
7 sit at the computer for work or leisure? ___ h ____ min
8 perform sitting activities such as administrative tasks, writing a letter or having a meeting? ___ h ____ min
9 sit in car, bus or train? ___ h ____ min
10 visit church or (movie) theater? ___ h ____ min


Validity
Participants with a total sedentary time>24 hours should be excluded from data analysis. The total time spend on sedentary activities can be calculated for an average day of the week [(weekday time * 5 + weekend day time * 2) / 7 ].

In the validation study, the total time spent on the 10 items (10.2±1.2) h/day was not statistically different from total sedentary time as objectively measured with accelerometry (10.4±3.5), P=0.6) (18).

The total time spent on 6 items was best correlated with total sedentary time as measured with accelerometry: napping, reading, listening to music, watching TV, hobby, and talking with friends (Spearman correlation coefficient r=0.46, p<0.05). These 6 items are marked with an asterisk in the questionnaire above. The 6-item questionnaire is able to rank older persons based on their time spent on sedentary behavior (18).

Reliability
The test-retest reliability was tested in 63 LASA participants 23±6 days apart. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the 6-item questionnaire was 0.71 (12). An ICC of at least 0.70 is considered as adequately reliable.

Questionnaires
LASAG101 / LASAH101 / LAS3B101 / LASAI101 / LASAJ101 / LASAK101 (self-administered questionnaire, in Dutch) / LASMB101 (medical interview, in Dutch)

Variable information
LASAG101 / LASAH101 / LAS3B101 / LASMB101 / LASAI101 / LASAJ101 / LASAK101
(G-K: pdf, under construction)

Availability of information per wave ¹

BCDE
2B*		FG*H*

3B*		MB*I*J*K*
Sedentary behavior

------SaSaSaSaSaSaSa

¹ More information about the LASA data collection waves is available here.

* 2B=baseline second cohort;
3B=baseline third cohort;
MB=migrants: baseline first cohort;
G-K=under construction

Sa=data collected in self-administered questionnaire;
Me=data collected in medical interview

Previous use in LASA
Previous use in LASA concluded that this questionnaire including six sedentary activities was moderately associated with accelerometry-derived sedentary time and can be used to reliably rank sedentary time in older persons. Also it was demonstrated that Dutch older adults spend on average 65% of their waking time sedentary. Older adults’ sedentary time differs by age, sex, education and BMI groups. The combination of high sedentary time and low physical was associated with higher age, higher BMI, and slower walking speed compared to the combination of low sedentary time and high MVPA. This suggests that increasing light activity might be an effective and feasible strategy in older persons to reduce sedentary time.


References

  1. Arnardottir, N. Y., Koster, A., Van Domelen, D. R., Brychta, R. J., Caserotti, P., Eiriksdottir, G., & Sveinsson, T. (2013). Objective measurements of daily physical activity patterns and sedentary behaviour in older adults: Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study. Age and Ageing, 42(2), 222-229.
  2. Bankoski, A., Harris, T. B., McClain, J. J., Brychta, R. J., Caserotti, P., Chen, K. Y., & Koster, A. (2011). Sedentary activity associated with metabolic syndrome independent of physical activity. Diabetes Care, 34(2), 497-503.
  3. Barber, S. E., Forster, A., & Birch, K. M. (2015). Levels and patterns of daily physical activity and sedentary behavior measured objectively in older care home residents in the United kingdom. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 23(1), 133-143.
  4. Visser M. (2015). Sedentair gedrag van ouderen. LASA onderzoeksvraag VWS 2014.
  5. Matthews CE et al. Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviors in the United States, 2003-2004. Am J Epidemiol 2008;167:875- 81.
  6. Bennie, J. A., Chau, J. Y., van der Ploeg, H. P., Stamatakis, E., Do, A., & Bauman, A. (2013). The prevalence and correlates of sitting in European adults-a comparison of 32 Eurobarometer-participating countries. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 10(1), 107.
  7. Copeland, J. L., Clarke, J., & Dogra, S. (2015). Objectively measured and self-reported sedentary time in older Canadians. Preventive Medicine Reports, 2, 90-95.
  8. Davis, M. G., Fox, K. R., Stathi, A., Trayers, T., Thompson, J. L., & Cooper, A. R. (2014). Objectively measured sedentary time and its association with physical function in older adults. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity, 22(4), 474-481.
  9. Dunlop, D. D., Song, J., Arntson, E. K., Semanik, P. A., Lee, J., Chang, R. W., & Hootman, J. M. (2015). Sedentary time in US older adults associated with disability in activities of daily living independent of physical activity. Journal of Physical Activity & Health, 12(1), 93.
  10. Evenson, K. R., Wen, F., Metzger, J. S., & Herring, A. H. (2015). Physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns using accelerometry from a national sample of United States adults. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 12(1), 20.
  11. Gorman, E., Hanson, H. M., Yang, P. H., Khan, K. M., Liu-Ambrose, T., & Ashe, M. C. (2014). Accelerometry analysis of physical activity and sedentary behavior in older adults: a systematic review and data analysis. European Review of Aging and Physical Activity, 11(1), 35-49.
  12. Hagströmer, M., Troiano, R. P., Sjöström, M., & Berrigan, D. (2010). Levels and patterns of objectively assessed physical activity—a comparison between Sweden and the United States. American Journal of Epidemiology, 171:1055-64.
  13. Jefferis, B. J., Sartini, C., Shiroma, E., Whincup, P. H., Wannamethee, S. G., & Lee, I. M. (2014). Duration and breaks in sedentary behaviour: accelerometer data from 1566 community-dwelling older men (British Regional Heart Study). British Journal of Sports Medicine, 0, 1–4.
  14. Lord, S., Chastin, S. F. M., McInnes, L., Little, L., Briggs, P., & Rochester, L. (2011). Exploring patterns of daily physical and sedentary behaviour in community-dwelling older adults. Age and Ageing, 40(2), 205-210.
  15. Marshall, S., Kerr, J., Carlson, J., Cadmus-Bertram, L., Patterson, R., Wasilenko, K., & Natarajan, L. (2014). Patterns of Weekday and Weekend Sedentary Behavior Among Older Adults. Journal of Aging and Physical Activity.
  16. McClain, James J., et al. Associations between physical activity, sedentary time, sleep duration and daytime sleepiness in US adults. Preventive Medicine, 66 (2014): 68-73.
  17. Santos, D. A., Silva, A. M., Baptista, F., Santos, R., Vale, S., Mota, J., & Sardinha, L. B. (2012). Sedentary behavior and physical activity are independently related to functional fitness in older adults. Experimental Gerontology, 47(12), 908-912.
  18. Visser M, Koster A. (2013). Development of a questionnaire to assess sedentary time in older persons – a comparative study using accelerometry. BMC Geriatr, 13(1),80.


Date of last update: April 24, 2020 (LenaS)