Association of objectively measured sedentary behavior and physical activity levels with health-related quality of life in middle-aged women: The FLAMENCO project

Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze the association of objectively measured sedentary time and physical activity with health-related quality of life in middle-aged women. Methods: The present cross-sectional analyses were performed in a total of 182 middle-aged women (52.6 +/- 4.6 years old) from the Fitness League Against MENopause COst (FLAMENCO) project. Sedentary time and physical activity were objectively measured through accelerometry. Participants' health-related quality of life was assessed with the Short-Form Health Survey 36 (SF-36). Results: Lower sedentary time was associated with a better SF-36 emotional role (B: -0.03; 95% confidence interval: -0.07 to -0.00). Greater light physical activity was associated with a better SF-36 emotional role (B: 0.04; 95% confidence interval: 0.00-0.08). Greater moderate-vigorous physical activity was associated with a greater SF-36 physical function (B: 0.01; 95% confidence interval: 0.00-0.02) and SF-36 vitality (B: 0.02; 95% confidence interval: 0.00-0.03). Greater vigorous physical activity was associated with a better SF-36 physical function (B: 0.34; 95% confidence interval: 0.02-0.66), SF-36-bodily pain (B: 0.63; 95% confidence interval: 0.02-1.25), and the SF-36 physical component scale (B: 0.20; 95% confidence interval: 0.00-0.39). Greater total physical activity was associated with a better SF-36 emotional role (B: 0.03; 95% confidence interval: 0.00-0.07). Moderate physical activity was not associated with any SF-36 dimension (all, P > 0.05). Conclusions: Spending less time in sedentary behavior and greater physical activity levels, especially vigorous physical activity, are associated with better health-related quality of life in middle-aged women. Vigorous physical activity is associated with a better SF-36 physical component scale, which might mean a reduction in exercise time with similar improvements for women's quality of life. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02358109. Date of registration: 05/02/2015