Abstract

The present study examines some psycho-social aspects in a group of middleaged and elderly Norwegian cross-country competition skiers, compared to the adult Norwegian male population. The skiers had been participating in regular physical activity during leisure for decades. In a cross-sectional study 117 skiers out of 122 (95.9) took part in 1981 in a five year follow-up study of latent coronary heart disease. In addition to the test program dealing with coronary heart disease, a detailed verbal pre-arranged questionnaire on some selected aspects of psycho-social behavior was added. Moderate disturbance of sleep was reported by ten subjects, of whom one resorted weekly to hypnotics. None of the subjects used tranquilizers, and none had sought psychiatric advice during the last five-year period. Out of 112 marriages there were five divorces. The mean annual absence from work was 17.9 in the upper social classes and 13.1 in the lower social classes, of the registered absence from work in the adult Norwegian male population. The study indicates that longtime active training subjects may demonstrate psycho-social behavior above the mean of the population. Verf.-Referat