Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Canadians Living With and Without Cardiovascular Disease

Abstract

Background

Our aim was to describe and compare the proportion of adult Canadians living with and without cardiovascular disease (CVD) and meeting the physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) recommendations of the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines using accelerometer and self-reported measures.

Methods

Using adult (18-79 years of age) accelerometer data (Actical, worn during waking hours for 7 consecutive days) as well as chronic condition, sociodemographic, recreational screen time, and PA questions from 3 combined cycles of the Canadian Health Measures Survey, we compared the PA, SB, and CVD risk factors of adults living with and without CVD.

Results

A total of 7035 Canadian adults who reported living with (n = 363) and without (n = 6672) CVD were included. Few adults living with CVD were meeting the PA (29%) and SB (15%) recommendations. CVD status was not significantly associated with the likelihood of meeting the PA or screen time recommendations, but adults living with CVD had a lower likelihood of meeting the sedentary time recommendation when compared with adults without CVD (adjusted odds ratio = 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.30-0.82). Adults, primarily men, living with rather than without CVD engaged in less light- and moderate-intensity PA.

Conclusions

The PA and SB of Canadian adults living with and without CVD are significantly different. Adults living with CVD had a lower likelihood of meeting the sedentary time recommendation, and adults living with CVD, primarily men, engaged in less light- and moderate-intensity PA. The identification of these movement behaviour targets may assist in allocating resources to sedentary individuals with the greatest need of PA.