Predictors of sedentary status in overweight and obese patients with multiple chronic conditions: a cohort study

Abstract

Purpose

Walking may improve health in obese patients with multimorbidity. We aimed to identify predictors associated with achieving <5000 steps per day after 4 months.

Patients and methods

We conducted a cohort study of 125 adult patients with a body mass index >25 kg/m² and ≥7 comorbidities. We evaluated potential predictors for <5000 steps per day using logistic regression and adjusting for age >65 years and sex.

Results

The mean (range) age was 63.6 (20.3–89.8) years. Daily step counts <5000 at baseline showed the highest risk of <5000 daily steps at 4 months (odds ratio [OR] 31.82, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 12.14–95.50). Other significant characteristics were physical quality of life (OR 6.21, 95% CI: 2.32–18.54), gait speed <1 m/s (OR 2.57, 95% CI: 1.18–5.71), age ≥65 years (OR 2.21, 95% CI: 1.05–4.77), waist circumference ≥102 cm (OR 2.48, 95% CI: 1.05–6.06), and body mass index ≥30 kg/m² (OR 2.69, 95% CI: 1.20–6.26).

Conclusion

New models to increase walking may be required for higher-risk patients.

Keywords:

• multimorbidity
• obesity
• pedometer
• walking

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the Mayo Clinic Division of Primary Care Internal Medicine and the Department of Medicine for their support in this research. We acknowledge the Center for Clinical and Translational Science grant support (UL1 TR000135) for the use of REDCap.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.