ArticleScientific reports2020
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity duration is more important than timing for physical function in older adults.
Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sensor for sports applications: monitoring and assessment of intrinsic capacity enhancement in older adults during brisk walking.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Physical Activity in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Which Real-World Accelerometry Measures Are Robust? A Systematic Review.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Pooled it
- Wearables for Measuring the Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior of Patients With Axial Spondyloarthritis: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- Timing of physical activity within the 24-hour day and its influence on health: a systematic review.Health promotion and chronic disease prevention in Canada : research, policy and practice · 2022Pooled it
- Association of Physical Activity and Gait Speed: Does Context Matter?American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2026Article
- Effectiveness of mobile health interventions on physical activity management in frail older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.European review of aging and physical activity : official journal of the European Group for Research into Elderly and Physical Activity · 2026Review
- The role of the circadian timing system in sarcopenia in old age: a scoping review.European geriatric medicine · 2025Article
- From Steps to Context: Optimizing Digital Phenotyping for Physical Activity Monitoring in Older Adults by Integrating Wearable Data and Ecological Momentary Assessment.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- The relationship between physical activity level and timing and sleep quality and hygiene in healthy individuals: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Associations between accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour with physical function among older women: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Implementing regular physical activity for older individuals in the family strategy program using the RE-AIM framework to ensure feasibility and sustainability: EISI study protocol.Contemporary clinical trials communications · 2024Article
- Age Is Associated With Dampened Circadian Patterns of Rest and Activity: The Study of Muscle, Mobility, and Aging (SOMMA).The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2024Article
- Association of Gait Quality With Daily-Life Mobility: An Actigraphy and Global Positioning System Based Analysis in Older Adults.IEEE transactions on bio-medical engineering · 2024Article
- Age is Associated with Dampened Circadian Patterns of Rest and Activity: The Study of Muscle, Mobility and Aging (SOMMA).medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Associations between device-measured physical activity and performance-based physical function outcomes in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ public health · 2023Review
- The Association between a Minimum Amount of Physical Activity and Subsequent Muscle Strength and Balance in Older Adults: A Prospective Study.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Is overall and timing-specific physical activity associated with depression in older adults?Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Bidirectional associations of accelerometer-assessed physical activity and sedentary time with physical function among older English adults: the EPIC-Norfolk cohort study.European journal of ageing · 2022Article
- Observational
- Association of Self-Reported and Device-Measured Sedentary Behaviour and Physical Activity with Health-Related Quality of Life among European Older Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The positive association between the total duration of physical activity and performances of physical function may vary at different times of the day as circadian rhythm regulates individuals in response to external stimulations. We aimed to examine the association of timing-specific and overall moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with performances of physical function in older adults. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted among 118 older adults (mean age = 70.0 ± 5.0 years). We assessed and identified timing-specific (morning: 06:01-12:00; afternoon: 12:01-18:00; evening: 18:01-24:00) and overall MVPA using a triaxial accelerometer. Different measures of physical function were evaluated including handgrip strength (by grip dynamometer), gait speed (5-m walk test), basic functional mobility (timed up and go test), and lower limb strength (five times sit-to-stand test). Multivariate linear regression models adjusting for covariates were used to investigate the associations. Participants spent 25.0 (± 26.2) minutes in MVPA per day on average, half the time spent during the morning (47.7%), followed by during the afternoon (29.9%) and evening (21.6%). The time spent on overall MVPA was generally associated with better physical function performances. There was statistical evidence for the percentages of MVPA engagement during the morning [B = 0.214, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.001 to 0.428] and afternoon (B = - 0.273, 95% CI - 0.518 to - 0.027) associated with basic functional mobility but with contrary directions; the percentage of MVPA engagement during the evening was associated with less time spent in gait speed performance (B = - 0.237, 95% CI - 0.468 to - 0.006). Our findings inform implications that the overall MVPA engagement was more important than timing-specific MVPA to older adults' physical function performances. Strategies for accumulating time of MVPA is more practical and effective than encouraging to engage MVPA in specific timing for the enhancement of functional ability and therefore prevent disability among older adults.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.