Measuring accumulated health-related benefits of exercise participation for older adults: The vitality plus scale

Background. Existing measures fail to capture the perceived benefits attrib uted to exercise participation by older adults themselves. Noticeable impro vements in sleep, energy level, bodily aches and pains, constipation, and o ther psychophysical aspects of "feeling good" may represent ongoing sources of motivation for continued participation. The Vitality Plus Scale (VPS) w as developed to measure these potential health-related benefits of exercisi ng. Methods. The 10-item VPS was developed using an inductive approach, in coll aboration with regularly exercising older adults and their instructors. Mul tiple samples of exercisers and nonexercisers ranging in age from 40 to 94 were used to examine the reliability and validity of the new scale. Results. The VPS showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliabili ty over one week Scores were able to discriminate on the basis of various i ndicators of health status and self-reported level of physical activity, an d were related to two measures of functional mobility. Convergence was foun d with several subscales of the SF-36, whereas low correlations emerged wit h a measure of episode-specific sensations. Responsiveness to change was fo und with various types of exercise for individuals with low to moderate sco res prior to participation. Conclusions. Improvements in sleep, energy level, mood, and generally feeli ng good appear to be the most noticeable benefits of exercising for many ad ults. These associations are reinforced by sustained exercise participation . Capturing these interrelated psychophysical constructs in a single, short measure will enable exercise researchers and instructors to measure increm ental improvements previously reported only anecdotally.