Muscle Strengthening Activity and Perceived General Health in West Virginia Adults

Peter D. Hart^1,

¹Exercise Science, Glenville State University, Glenville, West Virginia, USA

Cite this paper

Peter D. Hart. Muscle Strengthening Activity and Perceived General Health in West Virginia Adults. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2023; 11(6):206-210. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-11-6-5

Abstract

Background: Muscle strengthening activity (MSA) is encouraged for all adults due to its positive associations with health outcomes, including bone strength, muscular fitness, and health-related quality of life. MSA is also associated with improved functional health and is recommended as part of a multicomponent physical activity program. West Virginia (WV) is currently the lowest-ranking U.S. state in the percentage of adults meeting MSA guidelines. Moreover, the extent to which health status influences MSA in this population is not understood. This study examined the associations between perceived general health and MSA in WV adults. Methods: Data for this study came from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). A total of 5,301 adult participants 18+ years of age residing in WV were extracted from the national dataset. The primary outcome variable was meeting MSA guidelines status, where respondents reporting 2+ days per week of MSA were considered to have met guidelines. The primary predictor variable was perceived general health, where participants rated their general health as "excellent," "very good," "good," "fair," or "poor." General health was also dichotomized, with those responding as good or better categorized as good and all others as poor. Control variables included smoking, alcohol consumption, obese status, age, sex, race/ethnicity, and income. Analyses involved percentage estimates (%) of meeting MSA guidelines and multiple logistic regression modeling. Results: Overall, 26.1% (95% CI: 24.5% – 27.7%) of WV adults met MSA guidelines. Across subgroups, male, younger, other races, and more income populations met MSA guidelines at a higher rates than their counterparts. The percentage of meeting MSA guidelines was also higher among those with good as compared to those with poor general health (28.9% versus 18.2%, p < .001) and followed a linear trend from poor to excellent health (p trend < .001). Additionally, adults with good general health saw an 83% increase in odds (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.49 – 2.23) of having met MSA guidelines compared to those with poor health. After controlling for all covariates, these odds were reduced to an increase of 36% (OR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.07 – 1.72). Finally, the general health and meeting MSA guidelines relationship was stronger (general health × sex p = .004) in males (OR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.23 – 1.64, p trend < .001) than in females (OR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.07 – 1.38, p trend = .004) moving from poor to excellent health. Conclusion: These findings indicate that perceived general health is predictive of and may influence MSA behavior in WV adults.

Keywords

Physical activity (PA), Muscle strengthening activity (MSA), BRFSS, General health

Copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]	U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2018) Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd Edition. Retrieved from https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/pdf/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf.
[2]	Hart PD, Benavidez G, Erickson J. Meeting Recommended Levels of Physical Activity in Relation to Preventive Health Behavior and Health Status among Adults. J Prev Med Public Health. 2017; 50(1): 10-17.
[3]	Piercy KL, Troiano RP, Ballard RM, Carlson SA, Fulton JE, Galuska DA, George SM, Olson RD. The physical activity guidelines for Americans. Jama. 2018 Nov 20; 320(19): 2020-8.
[4]	Chen S, Ling J, Cheng Y. Physical activity and body mass index were interactively related to health-related quality of life among older adults. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2023; 104: 104833.
[5]	Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Physical Activity. Healthy People 2030. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/physical-activity/increase-proportion-adults-who-do-enough-muscle-strengthening-activity-pa-04.
[6]	Gray M, Di Brezzo R, Fort IL. The effects of power and strength training on bone mineral density in premenopausal women. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2013; 53(4): 428-436.
[7]	Hart PD. Grip Strength and Health-Related Quality of Life in U.S. Adult Males. J Lifestyle Med. 2019; 9(2): 102-110.
[8]	Hart PD, Buck DJ. The effect of resistance training on health-related quality of life in older adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Promot Perspect. 2019; 9(1): 1-12. Published 2019 Jan 23.
[9]	Sadaqa M, Németh Z, Makai A, Prémusz V, Hock M. Effectiveness of exercise interventions on fall prevention in ambulatory community-dwelling older adults: a systematic review with narrative synthesis. Front Public Health. 2023; 11: 1209319. Published 2023 Aug 3.
[10]	Bennie JA, Kolbe-Alexander T, Seghers J, Biddle SJH, De Cocker K. Trends in Muscle-Strengthening Exercise Among Nationally Representative Samples of United States Adults Between 2011 and 2017. J Phys Act Health. 2020; 17(5): 512-518. Published 2020 May 1.
[11]	Su LJ, O'Connor SN, Chiang TC. Association Between Household Income and Self-Perceived Health Status and Poor Mental and Physical Health Among Cancer Survivors. Front Public Health. 2021; 9: 752868. Published 2021 Dec 7.
[12]	National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Population Health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: BRFSS Prevalence and Trends Tool. Last Reviewed: July 19, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/brfssprevalence/index.html.
[13]	Hart PD. BriefTrends: State-Specific Prevalence of Meeting Muscle-Strengthening Activity (MSA) Guidelines in U.S. Adults, 2017-2019. Journal of Physical Activity Research. Vol. 8, No. 2, 2023, pp 63-64. http://pubs.sciepub.com/jpar/8/2/1.
[14]	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Overview: BRFSS 2019. July 26, 2019.
[15]	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS): Complex Sampling Weights and Preparing 2019 BRFSS Module Data for Analysis. July 2020.
[16]	SAS Institute Inc. 2015. SAS/STAT® 14.1 User’s Guide. Cary, NC: SAS Institute Inc.
[17]	Bampton EA, Johnson ST, Vallance JK. Profiles of resistance training behavior and sedentary time among older adults: Associations with health-related quality of life and psychosocial health. Prev Med Rep. 2015 Sep 4; 2: 773-6.
[18]	Harada K, Shibata A, Oka K, Nakamura Y. Association of muscle-strengthening activity with knee and low back pain, falls, and health-related quality of life among Japanese older adults: a cross-sectional survey. J Aging Phys Act. 2015 Jan; 23(1): 1-8.
[19]	Hart PD. Sex differences in the physical inactivity and health-related quality of life relationship among rural adults. Health Promot Perspect. 2016 Oct 1; 6(4): 185-189.
[20]	Liao YH, Kao TW, Peng TC, Chang YW. Gender differences in the association between physical activity and health-related quality of life among community-dwelling elders. Aging Clin Exp Res. 2021 Apr; 33(4): 901-908.