Objective To explore the correlation between the accessibility of community fitness resources and the health condition of community elderly and to provide evidences for rational allocation of community health resources and health promotion in the elderly.

Methods We conducted a questionnaire survey among 1 311 more than 60 years old residents selected from 42 communities of 6 cities in 3 provinces in eastern, central, and western China using multistage mixed sampling. Activity of Daily Living Scale (ADL) and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) were adopted to assess the health status of the participants.

Results The mean ADL score for all the participants was 98.70 ± 6.37 and 92.4% of the participants reported the ability to live completely independently. The place of daily sport was correlated with ADL score and scores of SF-36 domains, including physical functioning (PF), role-physical (RP), bodily pain (BP), general health (GH), role-emotional (RE),social functioning (SF), vitality (VT), and mental health (MH) (P < 0.01 for all); the area for active recreation in a community was correlated with ADL score and SF-36 domain scores of PF, RP, RE, SF, VT, and MH (all P < 0.05); the total number of fitness facilities in a community was correlated with ADL score and SF-36 domain scores of BP, RE, SF, VT, and MH (all P < 0.05); and the category number of community fitness facilities was correlated with ADL score and SF-36 domain scores of the PF, RP, BP, and RE (P < 0.05 for all).

Conclusion The distance to a daily sport place and community-based area for active recreation, total amount, and total category number of fitness facilities are positively correlated with health status of the community elderly.