Internal Consistency of the CHAMPS Physical Activity Questionnaire for Spanish Speaking Older Adults‪.‬

In recent years, physical activity has gained an important role in the prevention and treatment of several chronic diseases in addition of being part of a healthy lifestyle (1). In people older than 60 years of age, (2) physical activity is considered a challenge (3) given the difficulties in compliance due to lifestyles, family structure, and illnesses associated with aging (4). Physical activity in older adults helps reduce mortality, (5) decreases the risk of arthritis, (5) reduces the symptoms of depression, (5) maintains several aspects of cognitive function, (5) reduces the risk for diabetes mellitus type II (6), and reduces the risk for falls and subsequent fractures (7). Furthermore, adults older than 50 years of age which engage in physical activity have more active social lives and create new interpersonal relationships (8). In Puerto Rico, life expectancy is greater than 70 years of age and is expected that by 2010 more than 19.7% of the population of the island will be older than 65 years of age (9). This increase in life expectancy could significantly affect the health industry, especially, health insurance companies and medical services in general. In the United States alone, Medicare costs for hip fractures during the 1990's averaged $2.9 billion dollars annually (10). After the year 2000, the direct medical expenses from falls and fractures have reached an approximate annual cost of $179 million dollars for fatal cases and $19.3 billions for non fatal injuries in the US (10). For that reason, implementation of physical activity programs for older adults might help reduce health care costs and improve quality of life in this population.