Cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiometabolic risk factors among university professors

Abstract

Introduction: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CF) is associated with mortality and the development of cardiovascular disease, in addition to being related to work capacity. Objectives: This study aimed to verify the demographic, cardiometabolic and behavioral factors associated with CF in a representative sample of professors from a public university in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which evaluated, in addition to the CF, age, sex, glycemia, triglycerides, LDL and HDL cholesterol, C-reactive protein, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and physical activity (PA). The association between CF and cardiometabolic risk factors was estimated by logistic regression to obtain the odds ratios and respective confidence intervals (95%). Results: After adjustment, it was observed that professors with lower levels of CF were older, female, had higher BMI and a greater chance of being physically inactive. Conclusion: In general, the results show that the probability of low CF increases with the increase in BMI, in addition to the strong association with PA practice, which is a major focus of intervention measures aimed at improving workers health and their work capacity. Level of Evidence III; Case control study.