Sit less and move more! A cross-sectional study of the associations between physical activity and sedentary behaviors with inhibitory control in Brazilian adults.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the independent and joint associations between sedentary behaviors (SB) and physical activity (PA) with inhibitory control (IC) in adults. METHODS: A total of 111 participants (median age = 30 years; 60% women), completed the Stroop Color-Words test to assess IC. They also wore accelerometers for seven days to measure SB, light PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), and daily steps. We previously set cutoff points for SB and PA measurements and tested them to determine their association with IC. All analyses were adjusted for potential confounding factors including age, gender, post-secondary education, income, body mass index, and accelerometer wear time. RESULTS: Low SB, high MVPA, and high daily steps were independently associated with a better IC compared to their respective counterparts. Adults with low levels of SB and light PA demonstrated better IC performance (ß = -227.67, 95%CI = -434.14 to -21.20) compared to those with high SB and low light PA. Conversely, individuals with high SB and high light PA exhibited worse performance (ß = 126.80, 95%CI = 2.11 to 251.50) than those in the high SB and low light PA group. Furthermore, the joint association of low SB with high MVPA (ß = -491.12, 95%CI = -689.23 to -293.01) or low SB with high daily steps (ß = -254.29, 95%CI = -416.41 to -92.16) demonstrated better IC performance compared to those with high SB and low MVPA or low daily steps. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight independent and joint associations between low SB, high MVPA, and high daily steps with enhanced IC in adults.

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

Objective: We investigated the associations between physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) with vascular health phenotypes in community-dwelling older adults. Methods: 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 (ß) and their respective 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) adjusting for BMI, and medication for diabetes, lipid, and hypertension, sex, age, and blood pressure. Results: Participants with abnormal aPWV and normal cIMT (ß = -53.76; 95% CI = -97.73--9.78 m; p = 0.017), and participants with both abnormal aPWV and cIMT (ß = -71.89; 95% CI = -125.46--18.31 m; p = 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 (ß = -55.68 95% CI = -111.95-0.59; p = 0.052). No associations were observed between MVPA and the vascular health phenotypes. Conslusion: In summary, poor CRF, but not MVPA, is associated with the unhealthiest vascular health phenotype (abnormal aPWV/cIMT) in older adults.

Pre-Frailty Phenotype and Arterial Stiffness in Older Adults Free of Cardiovascular Diseases.

PURPOSE: Arterial stiffness is a subclinical marker of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The pre-frailty phenotype is associated with a higher risk for CVD. This study investigated the association between the pre-frailty phenotype and arterial stiffness in community-dwelling older adults without diagnosed CVD. METHODS: In total, 249 community-dwelling older adults aged 60-80 years were included in this cross-sectional study. The pre-frailty phenotype was defined by the standardized Fried criteria (muscle weakness; slow walking speed; low physical activity; unintentional weight loss; self-reported exhaustion). Participants with one or two standardized Fried criteria were classified as pre-frail and those with zero criteria as robust. Arterial stiffness was measured by aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV). The data were analyzed using the generalized linear model. RESULTS: From 249 participants (66.1 ± 5.3 years; 79.5% females), 61.8% (n = 154) were pre-frail and 38.2% (n = 95) robust. Pre-frail older adults had a higher aPWV (ß = 0.19 m/s; p = 0.007) compared to their robust peers. CONCLUSIONS: The pre-frailty phenotype was associated with higher arterial stiffness in community-dwelling older adults aged 60-80 years. Pre-frail older adults may have a higher risk for CVD.

Joint associations of accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary time with cardiometabolic risk in older adults: A cross-sectional study.

To investigate the joint associations of accelerometer-measured moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time (ST) with cardiometabolic risk in older adults. This cross-sectional study included 248 participants (aged 65.8 ± 5.1 years; 73.7% females). Cardiometabolic risk was defined using continuous metabolic syndrome score (cMetS). MVPA and ST were assessed by accelerometry. Participants were categorized according to their MVPA and ST levels: i) 'Inactive + High ST' (<150 min/week and > 10.6 h/day); ii) 'Inactive + Low ST' (< 150 min/week and ≤ 10.6 h/day); iii) 'Active + High ST' (≥ 150 min/week and > 10.6 h/day) and iv) 'Active + Low ST' (≥ 150 min/week and ≤ 10.6 h/day). The cut-offs for active and inactive were based on current PA guidelines. The cut-offs for low and high ST were based on the median value from this cohort. Generalized linear models were used for data analyses ('Inactive + High ST' as group reference) controlling for known cardiometabolic risk factors. The 'Active + Low ST' (ß = -0.34, 95% CI -0.57, -0.11) and 'Active + High ST' (ß = -0.28, 95% CI -0.55, -0.02) groups had lower cMetS compared to the 'Inactive + High ST' group (p < 0.05). No difference was found between the 'Inactive + Low ST' and 'Inactive + High ST' groups (ß = -0.19, 95% CI -0.41, 0.03). Meeting MVPA recommendations (≥ 150 min/week) is associated with a lower cardiometabolic risk in older adults, even in those with high ST.