Patterns of Sedentary Time and Quality of Life in Women With Fibromyalgia: Cross-Sectional Study From the al-Ándalus Project

Abstract

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet #Preprint #PeerReviewMe: Warning: This is a unreviewed preprint. Readers are warned that the document has not been peer-reviewed by expert/patient reviewers or an academic editor, may contain misleading claims, and is likely to undergo changes before final publication, if accepted, or may have been rejected/withdrawn. Readers with interest and expertise are encouraged to sign up as peer-reviewer, if the paper is within an open peer-review period. Please cite this preprint only for review purposes or for grant applications and CVs (if you are the author). Background: Sedentary time (ST) has been detrimentally associated with health outcomes in fibromyalgia. Previous evidence in general population showed that not only the total amount of ST but also the pattern of accumulation of sedentary behaviors is relevant to health, being prolonged, unbroken periods (i.e. bouts) particularly harmful. Objective: To examine the association of the patterns of ST with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in women with fibromyalgia, and to test if these associations are independent of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Methods: Four-hundred-and-seven (51.4±7.6 years old) women with fibromyalgia participated. ST and MVPA were measured with triaxial accelerometry. Percentage of ST accumulated in bouts and frequency of sedentary bouts of different lengths (≥10, ≥20, ≥30, ≥60 min) were obtained. Four groups combining total ST and sedentary bout (≥30min) duration were created. We assessed HRQoL with the 36-item Short-Form health survey (SF-36). Results: Greater percentage of ST spent in all bouts lengths was associated with worse physical function, bodily pain, vitality, social function and physical component summary (PCS) (all, p<0.05). In addition, higher percentage of ST in bouts of ≥60 min was related to worse physical role (p=0.036). Higher frequency of bouts was negatively associated with physical function, social function, the PCS (≥30 min, and ≥60 min), physical role (≥60 min), bodily pain (≥60 min), vitality (≥20, ≥30 and ≥60 min) all p<0.05). Overall, for different domains of HRQoL these associations were independent of MVPA for higher bout lengths. Patients with high total ST and high sedentary bout duration had significantly worse physical function (mean difference=8.73 units; 95% CI: 2.31 to 15.15; independently of MVPA), social function (10.51 units; 2.59 to 18.44; not independent of MVPA) and the PCS (2.71 units; 0.36 to 5.06;not independent of MVPA) than those with low ST and low sedentary bout duration. Conclusions: Greater ST in prolonged periods (of any length) and higher frequency of ST bouts (especially in longer bout durations) are associated with worse HRQoL in women with fibromyalgia. These associations were generally independent of MVPA.