Table 1 Studies on sport participation (in chronological order)

Pohjolainen and Heikkinen [45]

Longitudinal analysis of socio-economic status and health on change in physical activity during retirement years (Finland); n = 4 interviews (over 12 years = n = 134); chi-square analysis and correlations; problem of panel mortality.

Most popular types of physical activity: walking, callisthenics, and swimming—dignificant decrease of physical activity after the age of 74 years—physical activity correlated with good health, status, and income.

Farrell and Shields [25]

Investigation of impact of economic and demographic factors (age, ethnicity, education, and health) on sport participation (England); n = 6,467; random effects probit models that take into account unobservable household preferences, demographic, and economic characteristics.

Decrease of participation with increasing age, for men even stronger than for women—men more likely to participate in sport—women have different preferences regarding the type of sport—married people participate less in sport than singles—ethnic minorities participate less in sports than whites—negative effect of poor health—positive impact of household income and education—unemployed participate more in sports.

Breuer [7]

Cohort sequence analysis of income, time, human capital, age, immigration, cohort, period on sport participation (Germany); Longitudinal data (n = 3,782), cohort analysis (n = 98,772); regression analysis.

Demographic change and ageing society have only slight impact on sport participation—negative age effects compensated by positive cohort and period effects—cohort effect is the greatest.

Humphreys and Ruseski [30]

Examination of economic determinants (income and time) of participation and physical activity (USA); n = 175,246; Heckman model.

Positive effect of income—employed persons less likely to participate in sport—negative effect of age—positive effect of educational level—females less likely to participate than males—Blacks and Hispanics less likely to participate than Whites.

Sport England [54]

Analysis of the determinants of participation (and non-participation) in sport and physical activity among elderly people (England); Qualitative, 21 focus groups (each n = 6–8).

‘Inactive’ females: did some activity in the past, short term in nature; some did do exercise informally (e.g. exercises at home), some occasionally—‘Inactive’ males: did some sort of sport when they were younger, now greater emphasis on general exercise such as gardening or walking—‘Active’ group members had a history of participation (women: walking, keep fit, swimming, bowling, yoga and dancing—men: less team orientated nowadays e.g. walking, golf, tennis, badminton), there was a missing of competitiveness of sports.

Downward and Riordan [22]

Analysis of social interactions and motivations that affect sport participation (UK); n = 14,819; cluster analysis and Heckman model.

Increasing age reduces the likelihood of participating in sport—being responsible for housekeeping and undertaking voluntary work reduces the likelihood of participating in sport—frequency of sport participation rises with being more healthy—social and personal capital are important determinants for sport participation.

Lera-López and Rapún-Gárate [40]

Analysis of socio-demographic and economic variables regarding sport participation and consumer expenditure (Spain); n = 700; ordered probit models.

Women are less likely to participate in sport than men—positive influence of age—education is positively related to the frequency of sport participation—income level has no influence on sport participation—being employed is negatively related to the frequency of sport participation.

Breuer and Wicker [11]

Impact of demographic (age, nationality, gender) and economical (income, time, human capital) factors on sport participation (Germany); n = 141,129; regression analysis, cohort analysis.

Effects of demographic change do not necessarily lead to a reduction in sport inclusion as economic variables such as income and human capital can compensate the effects of demographic change.

Breuer and Wicker [12]

Analysis of the development of sports activity over a lifespan (Germany); n = 113,373, cohort sequence analysis (20 years) and n = 3,012, longitudinal analysis (20 years); ANOVA

Cross-sectional perspective: negative effect of age—however, age-specific rates increased over the years, meaning that also period and cohort effects are crucial. Longitudinal perspective: augmentation of sports activity in half of the analysed cohorts—decreasing activity for men with increasing age—for women, sport activity increases with increasing age, except for the oldest cohort (55–64 years).

Hovemann and Wicker [29]

Analysis of the determinants influencing sport participation in the European Union (EU); n = 25,000; regression analysis.

European model: age, relationship, Having children and occupation have a negative effect—education years and town size have a significant positive influence.

Klein [35]

Investigation of the determinants (social class, occupation, family, age, gender) for physical activity and different types of sports (Germany); n = 2,002; Gompertz model

Increasing age is associated with increasing physical activity (up to 50 years); especially for women—higher education is associated with higher level of exercise—child care reduces exercise levels.

Hinrichs et al. [28]

Analysis of effects of socio-demographic and cardiovascular factors and health status regarding participation in a cohort of elderly people; based on [17] (Germany); n = 1,376; logistic regression.

More elderly men participate in sporting activities than women—poor health status has negative impact—higher educational level has positive effect—lower socioeconomic status limits access to sports facilities.