Daily living activities in older adults: Part I—a review of physical activity and dietary intake assessment methods

The aging process is expected to change advanced activities of daily living (such as employment and work activities), to basic activities of daily living (BADL; such as self-care activities, which is also considered work among older adults). In effect, older adults spend more energy on physical activities related to BADL, compared to heavy physical activity in any industrial work. Hence, accurate assessment of the type and extent of physical activity becomes critical for estimation of the activity metabolism, especially in older adults. Once an assessment of activity metabolism is made, energy balance can be quantified by comparing energy expenditure (including resting activity, and digestive metabolism) with caloric intake. Instruments and techniques available to quantify physical activity in older adults, and caloric intake in older adults are reviewed in this paper. The emphasis in this review is on questionnaire-based instruments that minimize burden on the investigator and the participant. Validity and reliability of the assessment instruments are also discussed.

Relevance to industry

Since most work activities requiring energy expenditure among older adults, especially retirees, consist of BADL, accurate assessment of activity metabolism and dietary intake is necessary for designing these work activities for older adults.