LOS ANGELES, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A new study found just one hour a week of brisk walking can help prevent disability in elderly adults with arthritis pain, aching or stiffness in their knees, hips, ankles or feet.

According to researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, an hour of weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity could allow older adults to maintain their ability to perform daily tasks like getting dressed or crossing a street before a traffic light walk signal changes.

The weekly hour of exercise reduced their risk of mobility disability by 85 percent and their risk of activities of daily living disability by almost 45 percent, according to the study published on Monday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The researchers of the study analyzed data from more than 1,500 adults in the national Osteoarthritis Initiative from Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Columbus and Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The adults all had pain, aching or stiffness in lower extremity joints from osteoarthritis but were free of disability when they joined the study. Their physical activity was monitored by accelerometers.

After four years of study, people who didn't get the minimum threshold of exercise were eight times more likely to have a mobility disability, and almost twice as likely to have a daily living disability than those who did.

"Our goal was to see what kind of activity would help people remain free of disability," said lead author Dorothy Dunlop, professor of preventive medicine at the school.

"We hope this new public health finding will motivate an intermediate physical activity goal," Dunlop said. "One hour a week is a stepping stone for people who are currently inactive. People can start to work toward that." Enditem

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