Cardiorespiratory fitness

Psychological intervention

Linear regression

Gerontology

Demography

Statistics

Ethnic group

Body mass index

Psychiatry

VO2 max

Heart rate

Anthropology

Environmental health

Blood pressure

Mathematics

Sedentary lifestyle

Physical fitness

Physical therapy

Population

Internal medicine

Sociology

Medicine

Physical activity

Journal of Clinical Epidemiology

In health evaluations, physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (maximal oxygen uptake [VO2max]) are important variables. It is not always possible to assess both of them. If the association between self-reported PA and VO2max was strong, it would be possible to use the information on PA to make assumptions about VO2max and vice versa. However, little is known about this relation, in particular among women at high risk for cardiovascular disease. Our aim was to study the association between self-reported PA (Short QUestionnaire to ASses Health enhancing PA) and fitness (determined using the Siconolfi step test) among sedentary women in a multiethnic population.Participants were sampled from an exercise program for sedentary women (The Netherlands, 2008-09). Linear regression was performed with VO2max (dependent variable) and self-reported PA (independent variable); covariates were age and body mass index.One hundred ninety-seven women from different ethnic backgrounds were included. No significant association was found between VO2max and PA (R(2) = 0.60).A poor association was found between self-reported PA and estimated VO2max. Hence, PA and VO2max represent two different aspects of health in sedentary women and cannot be used interchangeably. This should be taken into account when evaluating health promotion interventions or when making health risks statements in sedentary women in a multiethnic population.

A poor association was found between self-reported physical activity and estimated maximal oxygen uptake of sedentary multiethnic women