Associations between number and type of conditions and physical activity levels in adults with multimorbidity - a cross-sectional study from the Danish Lolland-Falster health study.

Abstract

Aim: To provide detailed descriptions of the amount of daily physical activity (PA) performed by people with multimorbidity and investigate the association between the number of conditions, multimorbidity profiles, and PA.

Methods: All adults (≥18 years) from The Lolland-Falster Health Study, conducted from 2016 to 2020, who had PA measured with accelerometers and reported medical conditions were included (n=2,158). Sedentary behavior and daily PA at light, moderate, vigorous, and moderate to vigorous intensity and number of steps were measured with two accelerometers. Associations were investigated using multivariable and quantile regression analyses.

Results: Adults with multimorbidity spent nearly half their day sedentary, and the majority did not adhere to the World Health Organization's (WHO) PA recommendations (two conditions: 63%, three conditions: 74%, ≥four conditions: 81%). Number of conditions was inversely associated with both PA for all intensity levels except sedentary time and daily number of steps. Participants with multimorbidity and presence of mental disorders (somatic/mental multimorbidity) had significantly lower levels of PA at all intensity levels, except sedentary time, and number of daily steps, compared to participants with multimorbidity combinations of exclusively somatic conditions.

Conclusion: Levels of sedentary behavior and non-adherence to PA recommendations in adults with multimorbidity were high. Inverse associations between PA and the number of conditions and mental multimorbidity profiles suggest that physical inactivity increases as multimorbidity becomes more complex.