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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1409614
This article is part of the Research Topic Lifestyle and Healthy Aging to Prevent Cognitive Decline and Dementia View all 14 articles

Factors influencing physical activity behavior in older adults with subjective cognitive decline: an empirical study using SEM and fsQCA methods

Provisionally accepted
Wei Li Wei Li 1Sixue Hong Sixue Hong 1YIPING CHEN YIPING CHEN 2Yang Zhao Yang Zhao 1Limei Wang Limei Wang 1*
  • 1 Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
  • 2 Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objectives: Despite the evident potential benefits of engaging in physical activity (PA) for older adults with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), their PA levels remains low. Previous research has predominantly focused on PA behaviors in individuals with dementia/mild cognitive impairment, with limited attention given to those with SCD. Therefore, this study aims to identify key factors influencing PA behavior in older adults with SCD based on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and the capability-opportunity-motivation (COM-B) model. Methods: Three hundred and three individuals aged 60 and above with SCD participated in this study. A face-to-face structured questionnaire survey was conducted. Data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). Results: SEM results indicate that PA social support primarily influences PA behavior through three indirect pathways: the separate mediating effect of basic psychological needs, the separate mediating effect of motivation, and the chained mediating effect of both. Physical literacy, on the other hand, influences PA behavior through the separate mediating effect of motivation. Necessary conditions analysis by fsQCA reveals that no single factor is necessary for promoting PA behavior in older adults with SCD, while sufficiency analysis identifies four different combinations of factors leading to PA behavior. Conclusion: The model derived from the framework of SDT and the COM-B model effectively explains and predicts the interrelationships among variables. Physical activity behavior in older individuals with SCD is the result of multifactorial synergies.

    Keywords: physical activity, older adults, Subjective cognitive decline, factors, fsQCA

    Received: 02 Apr 2024; Accepted: 30 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Li, Hong, CHEN, Zhao and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Limei Wang, Peking Union Medical College Hospital (CAMS), Beijing, 100730, Beijing Municipality, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.