AUTHOR=de Sousa Maria Karolina Ferreira , Silva Raíssa de Melo , Freire Yuri Alberto , Souto Gabriel Costa , Câmara Marcyo , Cabral Ludmila Lucena Pereira , Macêdo Geovani Araújo Dantas , Costa Eduardo Caldas , Oliveira Ricardo Santos 

TITLE=Associations between physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness with vascular health phenotypes in older adults: a cross-sectional study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1096139

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2023.1096139

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objective:</bold> We investigated the associations between physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) with vascular health phenotypes in community-dwelling older adults.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> This cross-sectional study included 82 participants (66.8 ± 5.2 years; 81% females). Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was assessed using accelerometers, and CRF was measured using the distance covered in the 6-min walk test (6MWT). The vascular health markers were as follows: i) arterial function measured as aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) estimated using an automatic blood pressure device; and ii) arterial structure measured as the common carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT). Using a combination of normal cIMT and aPWV values, four groups of vascular health phenotypes were created: normal aPWV and cIMT, abnormal aPWV only, abnormal cIMT only, and abnormal aPWV and cIMT. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate the beta coefficients (<italic>β</italic>) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) adjusting for BMI, and medication for diabetes, lipid, and hypertension, sex, age, and blood pressure.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Participants with abnormal aPWV and normal cIMT (β = −53.76; 95% CI = −97.73—−9.78 m; <italic>p</italic> = 0.017), and participants with both abnormal aPWV and cIMT (β = −71.89; 95% CI = −125.46—−18.31 m; <italic>p</italic> = 0.009) covered less distance in the 6MWT, although adjusting for age, sex and blood pressure decreased the strength of the association with only groups of abnormal aPWV and cIMT covering a lower 6MWT distance compared to participants with both normal aPWV and cIMT (β = −55.68 95% CI = −111.95–0.59; <italic>p</italic> = 0.052). No associations were observed between MVPA and the vascular health phenotypes.</p><p><bold>Conslusion:</bold> In summary, poor CRF, but not MVPA, is associated with the unhealthiest vascular health phenotype (abnormal aPWV/cIMT) in older adults.</p>