| Summary: | Background: The main objective of this study was to investigate older people’s physical activity, their participation in various life situations, and their perceptions of their own health. This included an exploration of potential influences of urban versus rural residency on these outcomes, an evaluation of the measurement properties of a balance confidence scale, and an examination of the proposed usefulness of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) as a conceptual framework to facilitate analysis and understanding of selected outcomes. Methods: The study design was cross-sectional, population-based, with random selection from the national register of one urban and two rural municipalities in Northern Iceland. There were 186 participants, all community-dwelling, aged 65 to 88 years (mean = 73.8), and 48% of the group were women. The participation rate was 79%. Data was collected in 2004, in face-to-face interviews and through various standardized assessments. The main outcomes were total physical activity; leisure-time, household, and work-related physical activity; participation frequency and perceived participation restrictions; and self-rated health. Other assessments represented aspects of the ICF body functions, activities, environmental factors and personal factors. Moreover, Rasch analysis methods were applied to examine and modify the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale and the ICF used as a conceptual framework throughout the study. Results: The total physical activity score was the same for urban and rural people and the largest proportion of the total physical activity behavior was derived from the household domain. Rural females received the highest scores of all in household physical activity and rural males were more physically active than the others in the work-related domain. However, leisure-time physical activity was more common in urban than rural communities. A physically active lifestyle, urban living, a higher level of cognition, ...
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