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Leisure time, occupational and household physical activity, and risk factors for cardiovascular disease in working men and women: the WOLF study

Division of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, eleonor.fransson{at}imm.ki.se

Lars S. Alfredsson

Division of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Ulf H. de Faire

Division of Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, Department of Cardiology, Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Anders Knutsson

Occupational Medicine, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umea University, Umea, Sweden

Peter J. M. Westerholm

National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm, Sweden

Aims: The aim of the present study was to examine the association of leisure time, occupational and household physical activity, as well as a combination of these (total activity), with four major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Methods: Cross-sectional data from the Work, Lipids and Fibrinogen (WOLF) study were used. The study population consisted of 10,413 employed persons from two regions in Sweden, 7,168 men and 3,245 women, aged 19 to 70 years. Results: The adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) of having low high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels was 0.54 (95% confidence interval (C.I.) 0.46 - 0.65) for men and 0.55 (95% C.I. 0.41 - 0.73) for women who were involved in leisure time physical activity on a regular basis compared with persons with a more sedentary lifestyle. The adjusted PR of having elevated plasma fibrinogen was also significantly lower among those with regular leisure time physical activity. Occupational and household physical activity showed different associations among men and women. Women with high self-perceived household physical activity had an adjusted PR of 1.33 (95% C.I. 1.05 - 1.68) of having low HDL cholesterol levels. Total activity showed strong beneficial associations with several cardiovascular risk factors. Overweight persons seemed to have relatively more benefit from their physical activity with regard to cardiovascular risk factors than leaner persons. Smokers did not have as strong relative decrease in plasma fibrinogen with increasing activity level as non-smokers. Conclusion: Leisure time, as well as total physical activity, was associated inversely with cardiovascular risk factors, particularly HDL cholesterol, in both men and women.

Key Words: cardiovascular risk factors • cholesterol • gender differences • HDL cholesterol • hypertension • physical activity • plasma fibrinogen.

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