Key result
Meeting combined aerobic and strength guidelines is linked to ~67% less clustering of ≥6 chronic conditions.
Why the study?
Assessment of both moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity and muscle-strengthening activity is rare in physical activity surveillance.
Does meeting combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity guidelines associate with a lower prevalence of chronic health conditions in U.S. adults?
Cross-Sectional (n=383,928)
Yes
Does meeting combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity guidelines associate with a lower prevalence of chronic health conditions in U.S. adults?
Effect estimate: APR 0.33 (95% CI 0.31-0.35)
Only 23.5% of U.S. adults meet combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening guidelines, but doing so is associated with significantly lower prevalence of chronic health conditions.
Should not yet change practice; hypothesis-generating for combined guidelines reducing multimorbidity.
BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization's 'Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health' state that adults should engage in regular moderate-to-vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity (MVPA; e.g. walking, running, cycling) and muscle-strengthening activity (MSA; e.g. strength/resistance training). However, assessment of both MVPA and MSA is rare in physical activity surveillance. The aim of this study is to describe the prevalence, correlates and chronic health conditions associated with meeting the combined MVPA-MSA guidelines among a population representative sample of U.S. adults. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, data were drawn from the U.S. 2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. During telephone interviews, MVPA and MSA were assessed using validated questionnaires. We calculated the proportions meeting both the global MVPA and MSA physical activity guidelines (MVPA ≥150 min/week and MSA ≥2 sessions/week). Poisson regressions with a robust error variance were used to assess: (i) prevalence ratios (PR) for meeting both guidelines across sociodemographic factors (e.g. age, sex, education, income, race/ethnicity); and (ii) PRs of 12 common chronic health conditions (e.g. diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, depression) across different categories of physical activity guideline adherence (met neither [reference]; MSA only; MVPA only; met both). RESULTS: Among 383,928 adults (aged 18-80 years), 23.5% (95% CI: 20.1, 20.6%) met the combined MVPA-MSA guidelines. Those with poorer self-rated health, older adults, women, lower education/income and current smokers were less likely to meet the combined guidelines. After adjustment for covariates (e.g. age, self-rated health, income, smoking) compared with meeting neither guidelines, MSA only and MVPA only, meeting the combined MVPA-MSA guidelines was associated with the lowest PRs for all health conditions (APR range: 0.44-0.76), and the clustering of ≥6 chronic health conditions (APR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.31-0.35). CONCLUSIONS: Eight out of ten U.S. adults do not meet the global physical activity guidelines. This study supports the need for comprehensive health promotion strategies to increase the uptake and adherence of MVPA-MSA among U.S. adults. Large-scale interventions should target specific population sub-groups including older adults, women, those with poorer health and lower education/income.
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Bennie et al. (2019) conducted a cross-sectional in General population (n=383,928). Combined MVPA and MSA guideline adherence vs. Meeting neither guidelines was evaluated on Clustering of ≥6 chronic health conditions (APR 0.33, 95% CI 0.31-0.35). Meeting combined aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity guidelines was associated with a lower prevalence of clustering of ≥6 chronic health conditions (APR 0.33; 95% CI 0.31-0.35).
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