Cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic risk in Chinese population: evidence from a prospective cohort study

• Published in: BMC public health Vol. 24; no. 1; p. 522
• Main Authors: Liu, Yuanjiao, Zhu, Jinghan, Yu, Jiazhou, Zhang, Xuhui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 20.02.2024; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Algorithms; Analysis and chemistry; Biomarkers; Blood; Blood pressure; Blood Pressure - physiology; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Cardiorespiratory Fitness - physiology; Cardiovascular disease; Cholesterol; Cholesterol, HDL; Cohort analysis; Cohort study; Diabetes; Education; Exercise; Female; Females; Health aspects; Heart; High density lipoprotein; Humans; Hypertension; Indicators; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Males; Mathematical analysis; Metabolic diseases; Metabolic disorders; Metabolic risk; Missing data; Mortality; Non-exercise estimating; Physical fitness; Population; Population studies; Prevention; Prospective Studies; Risk; Risk Factors; Self report; Sex; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomic status; Triglycerides; China; Cardiorespiratory fitness; Non-exercise estimating; Cohort study; Metabolic risk
• ISSN: 1471-2458; 1471-2458
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-17742-4

Studies on the association between estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and changes in metabolic risk in the Chinese population are limited. This study aims to examine the associations between CRF and changes in metabolic risk. We included 4,862 and 2,700 participants recruited from 28 provinces in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in the baseline (Wave 1) and follow-up (Wave 4) analyses, respectively. CRF was calculated using sex-specific longitudinal non-exercise equations. Metabolic indicators included systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) levels. The metabolic score was calculated as the number of changes in the above metabolic indicators above the 75th percentile of the distribution of changes (equal to or below the 25th percentile for HDL-C). In the baseline analysis, CRF was negatively associated with SBP, DBP, TG, and FPG, and positively correlated with HDL-C after adjusting for age, smoking status, and drinking status (all P < 0.0001) in both males and females. In the follow-up analysis, higher baseline CRF was significantly related to a decrease in SBP, DBP, TG, FPG, and metabolic score (all P < 0.0005), and increased HDL-C (P < 0.0001) after further adjustment for corresponding baseline metabolic indicators. The associations remained significant after stratification by sex, except for the changes in HDL-C levels in females. Furthermore, improved CRF was associated with favorable changes in DBP, TG, HDL-C, FPG, and metabolic scores in all populations and males. Significant associations between changes in CRF and DBP, TG, and FPG levels were found in females. Higher baseline CRF and improved CRF were associated with favorable changes in metabolic indicators.