Working status and seasonal meteorological conditions predict physical activity levels in people living with HIV

ABSTRACT

Little is known about how demographic, employment and meteorological factors impact physical activity. We conducted an analysis to explore these associations from participants (N = 447) from six cities in the United States and matched their activity data with abstracted local meteorological data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather reports. Participants were purposively recruited in 3-month blocks, from December 2015 to October 2017, to reflect physical activity engagement across the seasons. We calculated total physical activity (minutes/week) based on 7-day physical activity recall. Mild correlations were observed between meteorological factors and correlated with lower physical activity. Participants were least active in autumn (Median = 220 min/week) and most active in spring (Median = 375 min/week). In addition to level of education and total hours of work, maximum temperature, relative humidity, heating degree day, precipitation and sunset time together explained 17.6% of variance in total physical activity. Programs assisting in employment for PLHIV and those that promote indoor physical activity during more strenuous seasons are needed. Additional research to better understand the selection, preferences, and impact of indoor environments on physical activity is warranted.

KEYWORDS:

• Climate change
• HIV
• physical activity
• weather
• work

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data analysis is currently underway, and after the data has been published, requests for the data set should be directed to Dr. Allison Webel.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the HIV/AIDS Nursing Care and Prevention Training Grant (NIH T32 NR007081), and Fellowship from the Sarah Cole Hirsh Institute for Best Nursing Practices Based on Evidence at Case Western Reserve University.