The impact of physical activity on physical health functioning – A prospective study among middle-aged employees Jouni Lahti ⁎, Mikko Laaksonen, Eero Lahelma, Ossi Rahkonen Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland abstract article info Available online 23 February 2010 Keywords: Physical activity Exercise Health Functioning SF-36 Quality of life Working conditions Objective. To examine whether physical activity contributes to physical health functioning five to seven years later among middle-aged employees. Methods. Baseline data were collected in 2000–2002 by questionnaire surveys among 40–60-year-old employees of Helsinki City. A follow-up survey was conducted among baseline respondents in 2007 (n = 7330, response rate 83%). Physical activity during leisure time or commuting within the previous 12 months was asked at baseline. Physical health functioning was measured by physical component summary (PCS) of the Short-Form 36 questionnaire. PCS mean scores were examined, as were poor and good PCS scores. Results. Vigorously active and conditioning exercisers had better subsequent physical health functioning than did the inactive and moderately active. Baseline health and functioning explained a major part of the differences found. Smoking, alcohol use and BMI further explained some of the differences. No clear differences in physical health functioning mean scores emerged during follow-up. In good physical health functioning, however some differences between conditioning and inactive women remained after adjustments. Conclusions. Prospective associations between physical activity and physical health functioning were relatively weak, but high physical activity may help in maintaining good physical health functioning. Vigorous activity may be more beneficial than moderate activity. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction Maintaining good functioning is vital for work ability and participation in everyday life. Due to biological and environmental factors, physical functioning typically declines with age. The decline in functioning varies significantly, however, as some individuals main- tain functional abilities until late in life while others face limitations at a relatively early age (Rowe and Kahn, 1987). Various factors such as chronic disease (Aromaa and Koskinen, 2004) or poor musculo- skeletal (Brill et al., 2000) and cardiorespiratory (Huang et al., 1998) fitness contribute to functional problems among the middle-aged. Adults in modern society often fail to reach the minimum amount of physical activity recommended to maintain health and functioning (Martinez-Gonzalez et al., 2001; Haskell et al., 2007). According to physical activity recommendations, cardiorespiratory fitness can be maintained and enhanced through regular aerobic physical ac- tivity, and musculoskeletal fitness by muscle-strengthening exercises (Fogelholm et al., 2005; Haskell et al., 2007). In addition to better overall fitness, physical activity is important for healthy weight main- tenance due to increased energy expenditure (Goldberg and King, 2007). Thus, sufficient intensity of physical activity as well as its total volume are both likely to be beneficial for maintaining good health and functioning. The association between physical activity and health functioning is reciprocal, as poor health and functioning may also restrict physical activity. A prospective study design is therefore essential for examining their associations. However, only a few prospective studies have examined physical activity and functioning among the middle- aged (Huang et al., 1998; Hillsdon et al., 2005; Klvaestrand and Vingård, 2009). Other factors such as smoking, alcohol use and excess body mass are associated with physical inactivity (Laaksonen et al., 2001) and constitute known health risks. Job characteristics equally affect functioning (Leino-Arjas et al., 2004) and are associated with leisure time physical activity (Wu and Porell, 2000; Gimeno et al., 2009). These factors are thus potential confounders for the association of physical activity and physical health functioning. The aim of this study was to examine whether recommended levels of vigorous and moderate physical activity contribute to physical health functioning five to seven years later among middle-aged public- Preventive Medicine 50 (2010) 246–250 ⁎ Corresponding author. Department of Public Health, P.O. Box 41, FIN-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland. E-mail address: jouni.mm.lahti@helsinki.fi (J. Lahti). 0091-7435/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.02.007 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Preventive Medicine journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ypmed