Cardiovascular fitness and cardiovascular risk factors among obese men and women aged 58 years and older, in Portugal

• Autor(a) principal: Araujo, Romulo [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Edilson Serpeloni, C., Vaz R, Enio R., Renata Selvatici Borges, J., Silva, Analiza Monica, Minderico, Claudia Sofia, Rocha, Paulo Manuel, Santa-Clara, Helena, Baptista, Fatima, Sardinha, Luis Bettencourt
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.4067/S0034-98872012000900009; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/6751
• topic: Aged; Hypertension; Obesity; Physical fitness

Background: A better physical fitness may have survival advantages in adults. Aim: To analyze the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and cardiovascular risk factors among obese subjects aged 58 years and older. Material and Methods: Cardiorespiratory fitness using the six-minute walk test, body composition by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and blood pressure were measured in a non-representative sample of 76 obese Portuguese subjects aged 58 to 87 years (55 women). Participants were stratified in tertiles of walking capacity according to the six-minute walk test. Results: Six minutes walk test results were negatively correlated with percentage body fat (r = -0.28; p = 0.012) and systolic blood pressure (r = -0.23; p = 0.045). Participants located in the lowest tertile for the six minutes walk test had an odds ratio of 4.34 (95% confidence intervals: 1.02-18.43) for elevated blood pressure. Conclusions: A lower six minutes walk test result is associated with a higher risk for high blood pressure. (Rev Med Chile 2012; 140: 1164-1169).