Assessment of senior fitness test in elderly population of tribal area of ahmednagar district: a descriptive study

Background: Aging is a physiologic process that affects all of our body systems and it is characterized by a physiological decline in bodily functions. Physical fitness helps to maintain a good quality of life as it also exposes elderly people to higher risk of diseases. Assessing their functional fitness using fitness assessment tools like Senior Fitness Test (SFT) is helpful in elderly care. The main aim of our study was to assess physical fitness in tribal area using Senior Fitness Test (SFT). This test analyses strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. These components are periodically used in one's daily occupation and thus helpful to estimate physical health. It is necessary to understand if there is a variance in demands on their bodily systems which will affect their fitness parameters, hence this study was undertaken.
Materials and method: This descriptive study was conducted in elderly people and the data was collected from tribal area of Ahmednagar district. The objective of this study was to assess the upper and lower body strength, flexibility and endurance by using 30 second chair sit to stand test, 30 second arm cur test, 2 minute step test, chair sit and reach test, back scratch test, 8 foot up and go test.
Result: Comparison of mean and standard deviation values of senior fitness test among men and women were calculated. The mean baseline value was evaluated by using senior fitness test. For 30 second sit to stand test in men was done, the mean was 8.17 with standard deviation ± 2.39 and women was 8.36 ± 2.54 respectively where the p value is >0.005 and Z value is 1.23 which shows there is no statistically significant difference observed.
Conclusion: Study concluded that with aging, physical fitness decreases in men and women. Moreover, it was determined that aging results in reduction of muscle strength causing lower levels of flexibility, agility, and endurance with progressive aging. Thus their work ability and physical fitness are many times reduced.