Leisure, home, and occupational physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors in postmenopausal women. The Postmenopausal Estrogens/Progestins Intervention (PEPI) Study

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between self-reported leisure, home, and occupational physical activity and selected cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestins Intervention Trial was performed in 851 women aged 45 to 64 years. Outcomes were levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, insulin (2 hours after challenge), fibrinogen, systolic blood pressure. Race-stratified models were adjusted for age, smoking, alcohol, and previous noncontraceptive estrogen use. Models were also run with body mass index as an additional covariate. RESULTS: In white women, leisure physical activity was positively associated with levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P = .001) and inversely associated with levels of insulin (P = .04) and fibrinogen (P = .02). Compared with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the inactive and light leisure physical activity groups, moderate (P < .001) and heavy (P = .004) leisure activities were associated with higher high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in the heavy leisure physical activity group were significantly higher than those in the moderate group (P = .01). Compared with lesser levels of leisure physical activity, significantly lower mean values of fibrinogen (P = .02) and insulin (P = .01) were associated with the highest-intensity leisure physical activity. Home physical activity was positively related to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (P = .01); relative to lower levels of home physical activity, the heavy home physical activity group demonstrated significantly higher mean high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The effects of leisure and home physical activities were independent of each other. systolic blood pressure did not vary by leisure, occupational, or home physical activity. CONCLUSION: The unique relationships between type of physical activity and cardiac risk factors underscore the necessity of including multiple domains of activity in epidemiologic studies of epidemiologic studies of physical activity in women.