Study of sedentary behaviour analysed by self-report questionnaire and accelerometry, and its association with cardiovascular risk factors in an adult population from a health centre

Introduction: Currently, sedentary lifestyle has been gaining prominence in the daily life of adults, increasing the time they spend seated, with a relationship between sedentary time and increased mortality from any cause, higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and type 2 diabetes. Purpose: The aim of this study are to assess the applicability of subjective and objective recording methods in the field of physical activity and health, and to determine the possible relationships between sedentary behavior and its variables and the level of daily physical activity with the prevalence of one or more cardiovascular risk factors. Material and method: A group of 64 adults from a Primary Care Center were studied, who were administered the International Physical Activity Self-Questionnaire (IPAQ) and an ActivPal triaxial accelerometer was applied for 72h. Results: Significant differences were observed between self-reported sitting time and accelerometry values, IPAQ (265.45±129.67 min/day) and ActivPal (387.78±215.06 min/day). Significant differences were also observed between the accelerometry variables related to sedentary behavior and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF), sedentary time (H=8.42; df=3; p=.03), number of transitions (H=10.41 ; df=3; p=.01) and number of total steps (H=13.4; df=3; p=.004). Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate the underestimation of sitting time by the population using the IPAQ, the relationship between sedentary behavior variables and the presence of CVRF, and the need to adopt promotional measures for the change towards an active lifestyle using strategies that can generate awareness of the importance in the acquisition of habits that generate transitions from sitting to standing.