Age- and sex-dependent associations between self-reported physical activity levels and self-reported cardiovascular risk factors: a population-based cross-sectional survey

Johannes Burtscher; Martin Kopp; Jeannette Klimont; Hanno Ulmer; Barbara Strasser; Martin Burtscher

doi:10.1186/s12889-024-20351-w

Age- and sex-dependent associations between self-reported physical activity levels and self-reported cardiovascular risk factors: a population-based cross-sectional survey

BMC Public Health. 2024 Oct 16;24(1):2843. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-20351-w.

Authors

Johannes Burtscher¹, Martin Kopp², Jeannette Klimont³, Hanno Ulmer⁴, Barbara Strasser^{5

6}, Martin Burtscher⁷

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Sport Sciences, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland.
² Institute of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, A-6020, Austria.
³ Unit Demography and Health, Directorate Social Statistics, Vienna, 1110, Statistics Austria, Austria.
⁴ Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria.
⁵ Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Rehabilitation Research, Vienna, 1100, Austria.
⁶ Faculty of Medicine, Sigmund Freud Private University, Vienna, 1020, Austria.
⁷ Institute of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, A-6020, Austria. martin.burtscher@uibk.ac.at.

Abstract

Background: The amount of regular physical activity (PA) can modulate the prevalence of traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) such as obesity, systemic hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, how different PA levels either below (< 600 MET min/week), within (600-1200 MET min/week), or above (> 1200 MET min/week) the range of the minimal WHO recommendations impact the age- and sex-dependent prevalence of these risk factors remains to be elucidated.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate these relationships using population-based self-reported data collected in a central European country (Austria, 2019). The sample included a total of 15,461 persons (7166 males: 16-95 + years, BMI 26.6 ± 4.4; 8295 females: 16-95 + years, BMI 25.1 ± 5.0). Besides various lifestyle factors (e.g., dietary habits, smoking, and alcohol consumption), variables of particular interest were the age- and sex-dependent amount of weekly PA and prevalence of risk factors for CVD. Sex-specific logistic regression analyses were applied to estimate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for the associations between self-reported PA and risk factor prevalence.

Results: Relatively small beneficial effects were found regarding the prevalence of risk factors for CVD when achieving PA levels corresponding to 600-1200 MET min/week as compared to those who did not meet these recommendations. However, exceeding the WHO recommendations provided much more pronounced benefits, especially in younger and older age groups. Adjusted ORs revealed that high volumes of PA (> 1200 MET min/week) were associated with a 32-43% reduction in the prevalence of obesity and T2D compared to those who did not achieve the WHO recommendations (< 600 MET min/week), as well as with a lower prevalence of systemic hypertension only in women and a lower prevalence of hypercholesterolemia only in men.

Conclusions: Exceeding minimal WHO recommendations for PA promises large beneficial effects, particularly on the prevalence of obesity and T2D. Demonstrated sex differences in PA levels and their association with cardiovascular risk factors may provide an important basis for preventive health counseling.

Keywords: Aging; Disease; Energy expenditure; Exercise; Gender; Health; Life-style.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Age Factors
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Austria / epidemiology
Cardiovascular Diseases* / epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise*
Female
Heart Disease Risk Factors*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Risk Factors
Self Report*
Sex Factors
Young Adult