Are Barriers the Same Whether I Want to Start or Maintain Exercise? A Narrative Review on Healthy Older Adults

Nathalie André (1) , Nounagnon Frutueux Agbangla (2, 3)

1 CeRCA [Poitiers] - Centre de recherches sur la cognition et l'apprentissage [UMR 7295]
2 I3SP - URP3625 - Institut des Sciences du Sport-Santé de Paris
3 SHERPAS - Sociologie, Histoire, Education, Représentations, Pratiques et Activités Sportives - URePSSS

To help older adults begin or adhere to regular physical exercise, several studies have endeavored to identify barriers to active behavior. However, there is a lack of information about barriers for active older people. In addition, most of the reviews of the literature compare only active people to inactive or sedentary people without examining in detail the barriers with respect to the degree of commitment to behavioral change. Finally, there is no consistency in the results of studies investigating the effects of barriers on the relationship between stages of change and exercise behavior. The first aim of this narrative review is to compare barriers that affect exercise stages of change from those that affect levels of exercise behavior in a healthy older population and the factors that can lead to relapse or dropout; the second aim is to identify the extent to which barriers hinder the relationships between stages of change and exercise behaviors. The results showed that barriers are well identified in sedentary people and in the first two stages of change (pre-contemplation and contemplation) compared to active seniors and other stages of change (preparation, action and maintenance). Consistency between the formulations of the different stages in comparison with the transtheoretical model and the definition of barriers and the limitations of measuring physical activity in the different studies are discussed. Finally, novel perspectives of research are proposed to address the flaws in the reviewed studies.

Mots clés: barriers; older adults; exercise behavior; stages of change

Domaines: Psychologie

Nathalie André, Nounagnon Frutueux Agbangla. Are Barriers the Same Whether I Want to Start or Maintain Exercise? A Narrative Review on Healthy Older Adults. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020, 17, ⟨10.3390/ijerph17176247⟩. ⟨hal-03045806⟩