Investigating the correlation between participation in sport-for-all and the quality of life in elderly men and women in Tehran

Sport for all is considered one of the human development indexes in society as it promotes life expectancy through residents’ well-being. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), sport for all is defined as activities available for all individuals with the minimum cost and promote physical and mental health in the community. Elderly are considered among the target groups to advance sport for all. Considering that elderly comprise 6% of total population in Iran, developing the sport for all for this group is a requirement. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between participation in sport for all and quality of life for sixty-year-old men and women in Tehran, using field research and surveys. Here, we stablished a sample size of 400 for both men and women. The data were gathered by a combined questionnaire, i.e. comprised from author’s own made questions and those from a standard questionnaire. Multi-stage clustering method was employed for sampling from the 22 different districts of Tehran, based on the economic information of households and their level of socioeconomic status in these regions. The results of this study confirm the correlation between participation in sport for all variables of mental health, physical health, well-being and esteem. Moreover, elderly men and women's athletic self-efficacy and health-oriented lifestyle showed a correlation with the quality of life of the elderly.