Predictors of sedentary status in overweight and obese patients with multiple chronic conditions: a cohort study

Abstract

Objective: Obese patients with multiple chronic conditions often require walking to improve their health. However, these patients may have barriers to walking. We sought to determine the risk factors at baseline that impacted sedentary status (<5,000 steps a day) after four months of some pedometer use. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis using a cohort design. Patients over 18 years of age were enrolled with a BMI >25 kg/m2 and >7 chronic conditions. Primary outcome was <5,000 steps a day on a pedometer after 4 months. Potential predictors included demographics, biometrics, comorbid health conditions, self-rated health, and length of pedometer use. We compared the predictors to sedentary/ non-sedentary status using Pearson chi square or logistic regression. We created a final multivariable model. Results: We enrolled 130 patients with an average age of 63.6 years (+/-15). 72%were women and 98%were white. At 4 months, 55%were sedentary. We observed that increased age, cumulative comorbid health, BMI, waist circumference, and sedentary baseline status predicted sedentary status. Reduced self-rated physical activity, physical quality of life, baseline step count and gait speed all predicted sedentary status at 4 months as well. In the multivariable model, BMI and physical QoL were significantly associated with being sedentary (p values of 0.014 and 0.03 respectively). Conclusions: We observed that lower physical QoL and higher BMI were associated with being sedentary after pedometer use. This study outlines potential barriers to future activity with pedometers.