Associations between physical activity and sedentary time on components of metabolic syndrome among adults with HIV

Recent data show that people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) are at a greater risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which could possibly be explained by an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) due to the known toxicities associated with antiretroviral therapy (ART). The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between physical activity (PA) and components of MetSyn in a sample of PLWHA taking ART. A total of 31 males and 32 females living with HIV and currently taking ART were enrolled in a home-based PA intervention aimed to reduce risk factors for CVD. Clinical assessments included measures of resting blood pressure (BP), waist circumference, height, weight, PA levels via accelerometer, and a fasted blood draw. Components of MetSyn were divided into three clusters (1 = 0–1; 2 = 2; 3 = 3 or more). A one-way analysis of variance was used to determine differences between clusters. Multiple linear regressions were used to identify significant associations between moderate intensity PA (MPA) and sedentary time among components of MetSyn. MPA was significantly lower across MetSyn clusters (p < 0.001), whereas sedentary time was significantly higher (p = 0.01). A multiple linear regression showed MPA to be a significant predictor of waist circumference after controlling for age, race, gender, and sedentary time. Routine PA can be beneficial in helping PLWHA reduce waist circumference ultimately leading to metabolic improvements. This in turn would help PLWHA self-manage known components of MetSyn, thus reducing their risk of CVD and mortality.