Association Between Adiposity Level, Blood Pressure, Physical Activity and Cardiac Autonomic Dysfunction: A Population-based Study

Introduction: Obesity and high blood pressure are complex and multifactorial health problems that represent serious public health issues. Physical activity is a powerful protective factor in the treatment of these comorbidities. Cardiac autonomic dysfunction has been shown to be strongly associated with cardiovascular risk factors and several other comorbidities. Objective: To associate the level of adiposity, blood pressure, physical activity, and cardiac autonomic dysfunction. Methods: This cross-sectional, population-based study included 285 individuals (average age: 45.1 ± 16.3 years) of both sexes. Body composition, blood pressure, and heart rate variability were assessed, along with physical activity levels. Spearman and Chi-square correlation tests were performed. For association analysis, binary logistic regression (Odds Ratio) was used. Results: There was a significant association between body adiposity and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure for both sexes (p=0.000). Additionally, a significant association was found between waist circumference and sympathetic nervous activity in the overall sample (p=0.003). Men individuals with high waist circumference were more likely to have low levels of parasympathetic activity, as indicated by the SDNN (Standard deviation of all NN intervals) variable (p=0.002). Regarding physical activity, there was a significant association with blood pressure. After adjusting for age, insufficiently active individuals were more likely to develop arterial hypertension (p=0.08). Conclusion: There is an association between high body adiposity and low levels of physical activity with increased blood pressure, and increased waist circumference is linked to a higher risk of autonomic dysfunction, thus raising the risk of diseases.