The relationship of physical activity to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level in a sample of community-dwelling older adults from Amazonas, Brazil

Abstract

Objectives: (1) To study the relation of physical activity (PA) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and (2) to investigate if the strength of these associations holds after adjustments for sex, age, and other key correlates. Methods: This study included 550 older adults from Amazonas. HDL-C was derived from fasting blood samples. PA at sport and leisure, smoking, alcohol consumption, and socioeconomic status (SES) were interviewed. Waist circumference (WACI) was assessed. Results: HDL-C was positively related to PA sport, PA leisure, and SES (0.22 ≤ r ≤ 0.34; p ≤ 0.001) and negatively related to smoking and WACI (r ≤−0.10; p < 0.05). Controlling for sex and age did not affect these relationships. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that the relation of HDL-C to PA sport and leisure remainedsignificantwhencontrolling forallotherinvestigatedcorrelates (0.14 ≤β≤ 0.24;p ≤ 0.001). Discussion: In order to prevent low HDL-C in older adults, promoting PA seems to be an important additional component besides common recommendations concerning weight reduction.