The risk of living with one or more chronic health conditions increases with increasing age in lower and higher income countriesβmany of which are associated with physical inactivity.
We conducted a cross-sectional study to examine the moderating role of multimorbidity on physical activity and its measures on functional disability among older adults in Ghana. Three categories of physical activity levels were used: vigorous intensity, moderate intensity, and walking. Past month diagnosis by a doctor was used to assess the presence of a chronic condition, and the presence of two or more conditions was used to define multi-morbidity.
Logistic regressions with a post hoc interactional tests were used to examine the associations. Among the three measures of physical activity, multimorbidity moderated the relationship between walking and functional disability. Future strategies for meeting the health and long-term care needs of older adults, particularly those living with only one chronic condition in Ghana should consider encouraging walking.
Policies, financial assistance, family, and community level interventions aimed to promote and sustain physical activity among older adults should be a priority for stakeholders in Ghana. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The call for implementing long-term care systems for older adults in every country, including Ghana [ 1 ], requires an understanding of the relationship, among others, between physical activity and functional disability.
