Physical Activity, Cardiometabolic Health, and Functional Performance Across the Adult Lifespan: An Age-Stratified Real-World Primary Care Study.
Higher physical activity linked to better mobility, strongest in adults 75 and older
Physical Activity, Cardiometabolic Health, and Functional Performance Across the Adult Lifespan: An Age-Stratified Real-World Primary Care Study.
Cardiometabolic risk and physical function are both strongly influenced by physical activity (physical activity) across the adult lifespan, yet it remains unclear whether this association is uniform across different stages of adulthood in everyday primary care settings, particularly among the oldest patients.
Using a real-world primary care cohort stratified into four adult lifespan groups, we investigated how self-reported physical activity category was linked to LDL-C concentration and Timed Up and Go (Timed Up and Go) performance, and formally tested whether these associations differed by age group.
This cross-sectional analysis included 863 adult primary care patients, divided into four clinically meaningful lifespan groups: young adults (18-39 years, n = 277), middle-aged adults (40-59 years, n = 284), younger older adults (60-74 years, n = 166), and older-old adults (≥75 years, n = 136); physical activity was classified as low, moderate, or high per WHO recommendations.
adults 75+ with more physical activity finished a timed stand-and-walk test faster
Baseline BMI, LDL-C, Timed Up and Go, sex distribution, arterial hypertension prevalence, and physical activity distribution were similar across the four groups, whereas diabetes mellitus prevalence differed modestly ( p = 0.033).
In every age group, higher physical activity categories were linked to significantly lower LDL-C (all p ≤ 0.006) and significantly better Timed Up and Go times (all p < 0.001); physical activity was the only independent predictor shared by both outcomes across all groups in multivariable models (all p < 0.01).
Associations between physical activity and both cardiometabolic and functional performance outcomes were present across all four adult lifespan groups, including adults aged ≥75 years, with no statistically significant age modification detected in this sample.
Given the exploratory nature of the interaction analysis and the limited size of the oldest-old subgroup, these results should be regarded as hypothesis-generating rather than conclusive evidence of age-invariance.