Factors influencing physical activity among older adults with high normal or mild high blood pressure

The purpose of this predictive study was to identify relationships among individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors and physical activity among older adults with high normal or mild high blood pressure. The physical activity model was adapted from Coxís Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior (1982) and the findings of a literature review, and consisted of four constructs: individual factors (individual background, cognitive appraisal, and motivation), an interpersonal factor, an environmental factor, and physical activity. The study variables were gender, ethnicity, income, previous exercise experiences, perceived health status, awareness of blood pressure, perceived barriers to physical activity, self-efficacy for physical activity, health self-determinism, motivation for physical activity, interpersonal influence on exercise, neighborhood environment, and physical activity. A multiethnic non-probability sample of 267 men and women aged 60 to 75 years participated in the study. Criteria for participants included normal cognitive function and blood pressure ranging from 130-160 mmHg (systolic) to 85-100 mmHg (diastolic). A path analysis (EQS 5.7) was used to test the hypothesized parameters in the model. As the initial hypothesized model represented a poor fit to the data, it was modified. The final model fit the data as follows: χ 2 (37) value of 37.35 (p = .45), a CFI of 1.00, an SRMR of .04, and a RMSEA lower than .01, with a 90% confidence interval (.000, .044). The final model explained 44% of the variances in physical activity. The variables that directly influenced physical activity were gender, income, previous exercise experience, self-efficacy for physical activity, and motivation for physical activity. Variables that indirectly influenced physical activity were perceived health status, self-efficacy for physical activity, health selfdeterminism, and neighborhood environment. Ethnicity, interpersonal influence on exercise, and awareness of blood pressure did not have a significant direct or indirect influence on physical activity.