Key result
Maintaining sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity over almost a decade was associated with significantly lower arterial stiffness in older adults compared to insufficient activity (P=0.001).
Why the study?
Does long-term sufficient physical activity reduce arterial stiffness in older adults?
Cohort (n=2,605)
Does long-term sufficient physical activity reduce arterial stiffness in older adults?
p-value: p=0.001
Maintaining or adopting a physically active lifestyle over a decade is associated with reduced arterial stiffness in older adults, supporting physical activity recommendations for vascular health.
May reinforce activity recommendations for older adults; extends observational data but leaves causality open.
BACKGROUND: longitudinal analyses of physical activity (PA) and arterial stiffness in populations of older adults are scarce. We examined associations between long-term change of PA and arterial stiffness in the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA). METHODS: we assessed PA in SAPALDIA 2 (2001-03) and SAPALDIA 3 (2010-11) using a short questionnaire with a cut-off of at least 150 min of moderate-to-vigorous PA per week for sufficient activity. Arterial stiffness was measured oscillometrically by means of the brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) in SAPALDIA 3. We used multivariable mixed linear regression models adjusted for several potential confounders in 2,605 persons aged 50-81. RESULTS: adjusted means of baPWV were significantly lower in persons with sufficient moderate-to-vigorous PA (i) in SAPALDIA 2 but not in SAPALDIA 3 (P = 0.048) and (ii) in both surveys (P = 0.001) compared with persons with insufficient activity in both surveys. There was a significant interaction between sex and the level of change in PA concerning baPWV (P = 0.03). The triples of parameter estimates describing the association between level of PA change and baPWV were not significantly different between the two sex-specific models (P = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS: keeping up or adopting a physically active lifestyle was associated with lower arterial stiffness in older adults after a follow-up of almost a decade. Increasing the proportion of older adults adhering to PA recommendations incorporating also vigorous PA may have a considerable impact on vascular health at older age and may contribute to healthy ageing in general.
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Endes et al. (2016) reported a cohort. Sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (≥150 min/week) vs. Insufficient physical activity was evaluated on Arterial stiffness measured by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) (p=0.001). Maintaining sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity over almost a decade was associated with significantly lower arterial stiffness in older adults compared to insufficient activity (P=0.001).
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