Association between Leisure Time Physical Activity and HDL-C in the Elsa-Brasil Study Participants: Are There Any Gender Differences in the Dose-Response Effect?

BACKGROUND

High levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) are known for their protective effect against cardiovascular diseases and the regular practice of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) may be associated with their increase.

OBJECTIVE

To verify the existence of differences between genders in the dose-response effect regarding the association between LTPA and HDL-C in the ELSA-Brasil study cohort.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study with data from wave 2 of 13,931 participants of both genders (7,607 women) from the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health ELSA-Brasil. The LTPA was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) and classified into four categories: sedentary, low active, active and very active. The discriminatory power of LTPA at different intensities analyzed for high HDL-C was tested using ROC curves. Associations, adjusted for confounders between LTPA and HDL-C were analyzed by logistic regression. A 95% confidence interval was used.

RESULTS

A positive association, with a dose-response effect, was observed between LTPA and HDL-C in both men and women. With regard to intensity, only vigorous physical activity discriminated high HDL-C in men, while both walking and moderate and vigorous physical activity discriminated high HDL-C in women.

CONCLUSIONS

LTPA shows a positive association with gradient dose-response and HDL-C, but in men, the association is not observed for those classified as physically unfit. In women, both walking intensity and moderate or vigorous physical activity can discriminate high HDL-C levels, whereas only vigorous intensity-exercise discriminate elevated HDL-C levels in men, demonstrating that males need to do more physical activity for this benefit to be observed.