Self-Reported Moderate-Vigorous Physical Activity: Its Association with Health-Related Quality of Life in a Large Cohort of People with Chronic Diseases

Research Objectives: Chronic diseases have recently emerged as a global pandemic. Individuals with chronic diseases often experience worse Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), which may be attributable to comorbidities and disease-related consequences. This study aims to investigate the dose–response relationship between self-reported moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and HRQoL in a large population-based sample of people with chronic disease.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Setting: We analysed data from 29,271 adults (15,315 women) diagnosed with chronic diseases and participated in the Welsh Health Survey (Wales, UK; data collection 2011-2015). Participants were classified, based on their weekly minutes of MVPA, into four groups: Inactive (no MVPA), insufficiently active ( < 150 min/week), sufficiently active (≥150- < 300 min/week), and very active (≥ 300 min/week).

Participants: People with chronic disease

Interventions: NA

Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome was HRQoL measured with the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36).

Results: There was a curvilinear association between MVPA and HRQoL and a dose–response relationship for the perception of general health and vitality domains. Compared to inactive participants, those who were very active had higher HRQoL scores (coefficient = 12.54; 95% confidence interval [CI] 11.39-13.70), followed by sufficiently active (coefficient= 11.70; 95% CI 10.91-12.49), and insufficiently active (coefficient= 9.83; 95% CI 9.15-10.51) participants. The fully adjusted regression model showed curvilinear associations between MVPA and the domains of SF-36.

Conclusions: The results demonstrated a direct and curvilinear association between MVPA and HRQoL. In our study, we found that higher levels of MVPA were associated with higher scores on the eight domains of the SF-36.

Author(s) Disclosures: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.