Background: Physical activity (PA) protects against coronary heart disease (CHD) by favorably altering several CHD risk factors. In order to best understand the true nature of the relationship between PA and CHD, the impact different PA assessment methods have on the relationships must first be clarified. The purpose of this study was to examine associations between the Framingham Risk Score on 10-year estimated risk of CHD (10-year CHD risk) and three different PA assessment methods.
Material/methods: Female (n=143) and male (n=155) adults wore activity monitors and recorded PA in logs during a seven-day period after which they completed a seven-day PA recall and had CHD risk factors assessed. The 10-year CHD risk was calculated from the CHD risk factors.
Results: Multiple regression analyses showed 10-year CHD risk was negatively associated with physical activity measured by the activity monitor (p<0.05) but not the log or recall in women. In men, significant inverse relationships between 10-year CHD risk and physical activity measured by the activity monitor and recall were observed. The log was not significantly associated with 10-year CHD risk in men.
Conclusions: The results of this study concur with previous research in that PA is associated with the risk of developing CHD; however, the findings clearly suggest that it is important to consider the PA assessment method when interpreting this relationship.