Attitudes toward physical activity and exercise: comparison of memory clinic patients and their caregivers and prediction of activity levels.

Regular physical activity and exercise (PA&E) reduces cognitive aging, may delay dementia onset, and for persons with dementia, may slow progression and improve quality of life. Memory clinic patients and caregivers described their PA&E and completed the Older Persons' Attitudes Toward Physical Activity and Exercise Questionnaire (OPAPAEQ). Caregivers and patients differed in their PA&E attitudes: patients were less likely to believe in the importance of PA&E for health promotion. PA&E attitudes were explored as predictors of self-reported exercise habits. Belief in the importance of high intensity exercise for health maintenance was the only variable that significantly predicted engagement in regular PA&E. Moreover, caregivers' attitudes toward high intensity exercise predicted memory patients' participation in PA&E. These findings may aid in development of exercise interventions for people with memory problems, and suggest that modification of specific attitudes toward exercise is an important component to ensure maximum participation and engagement in PA&E.