June 18, 2023Open Access
Thirteen-Year Associations of Occupational and Leisure-Time Physical Activity with Cardiorespiratory Fitness in CARDIA
Key Result
Over 13 years, increasing occupational physical activity was associated with lower cardiorespiratory fitness (β = -16.41, P<0.01), while leisure-time physical activity was positively associated.
Study Design
Type
Cohort
Multicenter
Yes
Structured PICO
How do leisure-time and occupational physical activity trajectories affect cardiorespiratory fitness over 13 years?
P
Population
Young adults from the CARDIA study followed for 13 years to assess the impact of occupational and leisure-time physical activity on cardiorespiratory fitness.
E
Exposure
Leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and occupational physical activity (OPA) over 13 years
C
Comparator
Different levels of LTPA (low, medium, high) and OPA (0, 1-6, and ≥6 months, or no, decreasing, increasing)
O
Outcome
Cardiorespiratory fitness measured via symptom-limited maximal graded exercise test (GXT) duration (in seconds)surrogate
Leisure-time physical activity is positively associated with cardiorespiratory fitness, whereas occupational physical activity is negatively associated with fitness over a 13-year period.
Main Result
Mean Difference: -16.41
p-value: p=< 0.01
Abstract
PURPOSE: Differential effects on fitness are hypothesized to contribute to the opposing health effects of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and occupational physical activity (OPA). As such, this study examined cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of fitness with LTPA and OPA. METHODS: This study examined fitness associations with LTPA and OPA across 13 yr in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (years 7 (baseline), 10, 15, and 20 (follow-up) examinations). Fitness was measured at baseline and follow-up via symptom-limited maximal graded exercise test (GXT) duration (in seconds), whereas LTPA and OPA were self-reported during each examination. Baseline and follow-up cross-sectional associations of LTPA (low, medium, high) and OPA (0, 1-6, and ≥6 months with OPA) with fitness were examined using linear regression. Longitudinal linear regression examined associations between 13-yr LTPA (low, medium, or high) and OPA (no, decreasing, or increasing) trajectories with fitness at follow-up, adjusted for baseline values. All models adjusted for center, sex, race, age, education, smoking history, alcohol intake, resting blood pressure, diabetes status, and body mass index. Stratified analyses examined associations by sex (female/male), race (Black/White), and LTPA groups. RESULTS: Compared with low, medium, and high LTPA were positively associated with fitness in all analyses ( P < 0.001). Reporting 1-6 or ≥6 months with OPA was negatively associated with fitness in cross-sectional follow-up models ( β = -15.6 and -15.4, respectively; P ≤ 0.01). Longitudinally, those with increasing OPA had lower follow-up fitness compared with no OPA ( β = -16.41, P < 0.01). Negative associations of OPA with fitness were not meaningfully different across sex and race groups. Significant LTPA-OPA interactions were observed ( P < 001). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity research and public health promotion should consider domain-specific associations on cardiovascular health.