Sarah E Jackson1, Joseph Firth2, Igor Grabovac3, Ai Koyanagi4, Brendon Stubbs5, Pinar Soysal6, Ash Willmott7, Lin Yang8, Lee Smith7. 1. Department of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: s.e.jackson@ucl.ac.uk. 2. NICM Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Westmead, Australia; Division of Psychology and Mental Health, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK; Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. 3. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Center for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. 4. Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Barcelona, Spain; Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain. 5. Physiotherapy Department, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, London, SE5 8AZ, UK; Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, SE5 8AF, UK; Positive Ageing Research Institute, Faculty of Health, Social Care, Medicine and Education, Anglia Ruskin University, Bishop Hall Lane, Chelmsford, CM1 1SQ, UK. 6. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey. 7. The Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Science, Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge UK. 8. Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Albert Health Services, Calgary, Canada; Departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Several studies have reported a positive association between sedentary behaviour and perceived stress, but none using a population-based sample has examined this relationship using an objective measure of stress exposure. The aim of this study was therefore to analyse the association between sedentary behaviour (operationalised as daily TV viewing time) and levels of cortisol in hair (an objective measure of chronic stress) using data from a large population-based sample of older adults. METHOD: Analyses used cross-sectional data from older adults (≥50 years) participating in Wave 6 (2012/13) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Hair cortisol concentrations were determined from the scalp-nearest 2 cm hair segment. TV viewing time was self-reported and categorised as <2, 2 < 4, 4 < 6, or ≥6 h/day. Covariates included age, sex, ethnicity, education, wealth, limiting long-standing illness, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, body mass index, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The sample comprised 3555 men and women, of whom 284 (8.0%) reported watching less than 2 h of TV per day, 1160 (32.6%) 2-4 h, 1079 (30.4%) 4-6 h, and 1032 (29.0%) ≥6 h. Mean hair cortisol concentrations for those spending <2, 2 < 4, 4 < 6, and ≥6 h per day watching TV were 0.862, 0.880, 0.889, and 0.934 log pg/mg, respectively. Differences between groups were not statistically significant in unadjusted (p = .088) or adjusted (p = .663) models. CONCLUSION: In a large sample of older adults in England, self-reported sedentary behaviour was not associated with a biomarker of chronic stress.
PURPOSE: Several studies have reported a positive association between sedentary behaviour and perceived stress, but none using a population-based sample has examined this relationship using an objective measure of stress exposure. The aim of this study was therefore to analyse the association between sedentary behaviour (operationalised as daily TV viewing time) and levels of cortisol in hair (an objective measure of chronic stress) using data from a large population-based sample of older adults. METHOD: Analyses used cross-sectional data from older adults (≥50 years) participating in Wave 6 (2012/13) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Hair cortisol concentrations were determined from the scalp-nearest 2 cm hair segment. TV viewing time was self-reported and categorised as <2, 2 < 4, 4 < 6, or ≥6 h/day. Covariates included age, sex, ethnicity, education, wealth, limiting long-standing illness, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, smoking status, alcohol intake, physical activity, body mass index, and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: The sample comprised 3555 men and women, of whom 284 (8.0%) reported watching less than 2 h of TV per day, 1160 (32.6%) 2-4 h, 1079 (30.4%) 4-6 h, and 1032 (29.0%) ≥6 h. Mean hair cortisol concentrations for those spending <2, 2 < 4, 4 < 6, and ≥6 h per day watching TV were 0.862, 0.880, 0.889, and 0.934 log pg/mg, respectively. Differences between groups were not statistically significant in unadjusted (p = .088) or adjusted (p = .663) models. CONCLUSION: In a large sample of older adults in England, self-reported sedentary behaviour was not associated with a biomarker of chronic stress.
Authors: Megan Teychenne; Lena D Stephens; Sarah A Costigan; Dana Lee Olstad; Brendon Stubbs; Anne I Turner Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2019-10-23 Impact factor: 3.295