Association between work-related physical activity and metabolic syndrome: A population-based study in Peru

There is limited evidence about the association between work-related physical activity and metabolic syndrome. This is important as a great part of a usual day is related to work, and most of this is sedentary. The aim on this study was to assess the association between work-related physical activity and metabolic syndrome. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from a population-based study in five geographical strata in Peru. The outcome of interest was metabolic syndrome based on international consensus; exposure was the self-report of work-related physical activity (high, moderate, and low). Crude and adjusted Poisson regression models, with robust variance were used, from which prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were reported. Results: Data from 4029 individuals were analyzed, mean age 42.1 (SD: 15.3) years, and 2013 (50.0%) were females. A total of 1011 (25.1%; 95%CI: 23.8%-26.5%) subjects had metabolic syndrome. The multivariable model evidenced an association between work-related physical activity and metabolic syndrome: compared to those reporting high levels of physical activity, those with moderate and low physical activity had 1.51 (95%CI: 1.25-1.81) and 1.71 (95%CI: 1.42-2.06) greater prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The association was stronger among males than females (p= 0.001). Conclusions: Our results confirm the association between work-related physical activity and the presence of metabolic syndrome. In addition, 25% of the study population had metabolic syndrome.