SENIOR FITNESS TEST: REFERENCE CURVES FOR POLISH WOMEN OVER 60 YEARS OF AGE

Background Although population aging is a natural process, it poses many social, economic, and health challenges. It is important for older adults to maintain adequate functional fitness for as long as possible to live independently and autonomously. Presenting reference values of functional fitness on a continuous basis (rather than in 5-year periods as it is the case in the standards for SFT) is a better approach. It provides more insights into changes that occur in functional fitness. The aim of the study was to develop reference curves for fitness tests constituting the Senior Fitness Test for Polish women over 60 years of age who move independently. Methods The study examined 833 women aged over 60 years (m ± SD; 67.42 ± 6.88). The Senior Fitness Test, consisting of 6 fitness tests, was used to evaluate functional fitness. The entire set of data was sorted by the age of participants, numbered, and assorted into overlapping sets. Finally, 17 sets were obtained. The equations for means and standard deviations vs. age were computed for all sets of variables. Results Based on the results of the fitness tests and using appropriate equations, 6 percentile grids were developed for women over 60 years of age. Conclusion The percentile grids developed for individual SFT tests may be an important tool for assessing individual functional fitness in the population of Polish women over 60 years of age. The use of the percentile girds allows for changes in fitness levels over the years to be conveniently illustrated.