Background and rationale: Epidemiologic research suggests that physical activity (PA) reduces the risk of chronic diseases including gallstones.
Objective: This study explores the association between recreational physical activity (RPA) and risk of asymptomatic gallstones (AG) in adult Mexican women.
Material and methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of women from the Health Workers Cohort Study. The study population included Mexican women aged 17-94 years, with no history of gallstone (GS) or cholecystectomy. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on weight change, gynecological health history, cholesterol-lowering medications and diuretics, history of diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2), PA and diet. PA was calculated in minutes/day, minutes/week and Metabolic Equivalents (METs)/week. Gallstone diagnosis was performed using real-time ultrasonography. The association between RPA and risk of AG was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression models. Results. Of the 4,953 women involved in the study, 12.3% were diagnosed with AG. The participants with AG were significantly older, had a higher body mass index, and had a higher prevalence of DM2 than those without AG. The participants with > 30 min/day of RPA had lower odds of AG (OR = 0.80; 95% CI: 0.65-0.97; P = 0.03), regardless of other known risk factors for gallstone disease. Furthermore, we observed an inverse relationship between RPA time and AG risk, especially in women doing more than 150 min a week of RPA (OR = 0.76; 95%CI: 0.61- 0.95; P = 0.02).
Conclusion: These findings support the hypothesis that RPA may protect against AG, although further prospective investigations are needed to confirm this association.