Importance of Overall Activity and Intensity of Activity for Cardiometabolic Risk in Those with and Without a Chronic Disease

Introduction Higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower cardiometabolic risk. However, the relative contribution of overall activity and the intensity of activity are unclear. Our aim was to determine the relative contribution of overall activity and intensity distribution of activity to cardiometabolic risk in a cross-sectional analysis of apparently healthy office workers and in people with one or more chronic disease. Methods Clustered cardiometabolic risk score was calculated from mean arterial pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and HbA1c. Open-source software (GGIR) was used to generate average acceleration and intensity gradient from wrist-worn accelerometer data for two data sets: office-workers who did not have a self-reported medical condition (n = 399, 70% women) and adults with one or more chronic disease (n = 1137, 34% women). Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the relative contribution of overall activity and intensity of activity to cardiometabolic risk. Results When mutually adjusted, both overall activity and intensity of activity were independently associated with cardiometabolic risk in the healthy group (P < 0.05). However, for the CD group, although mutually adjusted associations for average acceleration were significantly associated with cardiometabolic risk (P < 0.001), intensity was not. In healthy individuals, cardiometabolic risk was lower in those with high overall activity and/or intensity of activity, and who also undertook at least 10 min brisk walking. In those with a chronic disease, risk was lower in those who undertook at least 60 min slow walking. Conclusions These findings suggest interventions aiming to optimize cardiometabolic health in healthy adults could focus on increasing both intensity and amount of physical activity. However, in those with chronic disease, increasing the amount of activity undertaken, regardless of intensity, may be more appropriate.