# Data report on older adults from China's five national physical fitness monitoring: evidence-based psychological characteristics of ageing

**Authors:** Jiangping Fu, Yi Yu

PMC · DOI: 10.3389/fspor.2026.1691379 · Frontiers in Sports and Active Living · 2026-02-04

## TL;DR

This study analyzes data from China's national fitness reports to explore how physical and psychological traits of older adults changed between 2000 and 2020.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel application of fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis to identify patterns in aging-related psychological characteristics.

## Key findings

- Four distinct paths of physical fitness changes in older adults were identified with strong consistency and robustness.
- The attainment rate of older adults is highly correlated with test, overweight, and obesity indicators.
- The data reveals psychological traits like cognitive ability and self-determination among older adults.

## Abstract

The results of older adult data from China's five National Physical Fitness Monitoring Reports are summarized. This study examines the preliminary analysis of changes in the physical fitness of older adults in China between 2000 and 2020. The objective is to conduct evidence-based research on the psychological characteristics/health characteristics of ageing in China.

Data from older adults in China's five National Physical Fitness Monitoring Reports were collected, organized, and summarized. The data for older adults includes the composite index, attainment rate, test indicators, overweight indicators, and obesity indicators. Fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was used to calculate the data for older adults. The compliance rate was set as the outcome variable (dependent variable). Composite index, attainment rate, test indicators, overweight indicators, and obesity indicators were used as conditional variables (independent variables). A comparative analysis was conducted on the characteristics of physical fitness changes in older adults (high-frequency elements and configuration).

In this study, the consistency threshold is set to 0.8, the PRI threshold is set to 0.75, and the frequency threshold is set to 1. The four paths (1 mixed older adult, 1 male older adult, and 2 female older adults) detected have good consistency, coverage, and robustness.

The older adult's attainment rate is highly correlated with test indicators, overweight indicators, and obesity indicators, which is consistent with the facts. The data exposed the psychological characteristics (cognitive ability and self-determination) of older adults.

## Full-text entities

- **Diseases:** cognitive decline (MESH:D003072), male OA (MESH:D005832), PA (MESH:D059445), OA (MESH:C538052), OAs (MESH:C537043), NPFM (MESH:D012640), ObI (MESH:D009765), TI (MESH:D013736), OvI (MESH:D050177)
- **Chemicals:** FsQCA (-)
- **Species:** Homo sapiens (human, species) [taxon 9606]

## Full text

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## References

47 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12914949/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12914949