Physical Activity, Sedentary Time, And Sleep Characteristics Among Hispanic Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Physical activity (PA) and sleep have been suggested as factors that could help mitigate debilitating symptoms experienced by patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). However, little is known about PA and sleep characteristics among Hispanic patients with IBD. PURPOSE: To describe and evaluate associations between moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) and number of steps/day, sleep time, and anthropometric characteristics in adult Hispanic patients with IBD in Puerto Rico. METHODS: A group of 47 adult patients (Females = 24, Males = 23, age = 43.5 ± 15.0 y), 74% with Crohn’s Disease (CD) and 26% with ulcerative colitis (UC), participated in the study. Measures of height and weight were obtained and body mass index (BMI) calculated (kg/m2). MVPA, steps/day, and sleep time were measured with a wGT3X-BT accelerometer worn on the non-dominant wrist for 24 h/day, during 7-consecutive days. Independent t-tests and ANOVAs were used to identify differences by sex and IBD diagnosis, and Pearson correlations to evaluate associations between variables. RESULTS: CD patients were younger than UC patients (39.4 ± 12.3 vs 50.0 ± 20.2 y, P = 0.04). Mean height, weight, BMI, sleep time, MVPA, and steps/day were 167.4 ± 8.8 cm, 74.3 ± 18.1 kg, 26.3 ± 5.4 kg/m2, 161.2 ± 75.4 min/day, and 10,304 respectively. No differences were observed between patients with CD and UC. Men were taller and weighed more than women, but no sex differences were observed for BMI, sleep time, MVPA, and steps/day. No correlations were observed between MVPA, steps/day, and sleep time. However, sleep time is inversely correlated with steps/day (r = -0.42, P = 0.01) only among CD patients. Also, a direct correlation (0.32, P = 0.03) was observed between MVPA and BMI, and an inverse correlation (-0.33, P = 0.04) between MVPA and height. Also, there was an inverse correlation (-0.30, P = 0.04) between BMI and sleep time, but only among women. CONCLUSION: On average, our group of Hispanic patients with IBD were in the overweight category, were highly active, and did not sleep enough. More MVPA characterized those with higher BMI and less height. Among women, those with higher BMI had less sleep time; and among CD patients, those who walked more had less sleep time. Differences by sex and IBD diagnosis in relation to PA, BMI, and sleep time must be further evaluated.