Association between Physical Activity Habits with Cardiometabolic Variables, Body Composition, and Physical Performance in Chilean Older Women

Abstract

This study aimed to associate physical activity habits with cardiometabolic variables (blood pressure, fasting glucose, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides), body composition (body fat percentage and fat-free mass), and physical performance (handgrip strength (HGS), timed up-and-go (TUG), and walking speed) in Chilean older women. An analytical cross-sectional study analyzed 179 older women with a mean age of 75.4 years distributed into physically inactive (PI) older women (n = 74) and physically active (PA) older women (n = 105). A logistic regression showed that PI older women presented an increased risk of hyperglycemia (OR = 4.70; p = 0.000), high blood pressure (OR = 3.83; p = 0.000), low HDL cholesterol levels (OR = 2.13; p = 0.03), hypertriglyceridemia (OR = 2.54; p = 0.01), excess body fat percentage (OR = 4.33; p = 0.000), low fat-free mass (OR = 2.22; p = 0.02), low HGS in their dominant hand (OR = 3.37; p = 0.001) and non-dominant hand (OR = 3.60; p = 0.0001), and poor performance in TUG (OR = 5.60; p = 0.000) and walking speed (OR = 5.52; p = 0.000). In conclusion, physical inactivity was associated with increased cardiometabolic risk, excess body fat percentage, lower fat-free mass, and poorer physical performance in Chilean older women. At the same time, PA older women showed a lower cardiometabolic risk, better body composition, and better physical performance than PI older women.