Physical activity levels and associated cardiovascular disease risk factors among postmenopausal rural women of Bangladesh

OBJECTIVES: The role of physical inactivity in relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) among postmenopausal women is understudied. The main objective of this study was to measure the physical activity levels (PALs) and evaluate its relation to other CVD risk factors among postmenopausal rural women of Bangladesh. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 265 postmenopausal women aged 40–70 years who visited the outpatient department of a primary health-care center situated in the village Karamtola of Gazipur district. A pretested modified questionnaire of STEP-wise approach to Surveillance (STEPS) of noncommunicable disease risk factors was used to collect data on sociodemographic and lifestyle factors. PAL was determined by the Estimated Energy Requirement (EER) equation of the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs) Committee, and association with CVD risk factors was examined by Spearman's rank correlation. RESULTS: More than half (58.1%) of the postmenopausal women were identified as sedentary with high prevalence of central obesity (73.2%) among them. CVD risk factors including age (r = −0.228, p < 0.01), age at menopause (r = −0.129, p < 0.05), duration of menopause (r = −0.183, p < 0.05), 2-h plasma glucose (r = −0.148, p < 0.05), total cholesterol (r = −0.138, p < 0.05), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = −0.122, p < 0.05), and triglyceride (r = −0.168, p < 0.01) showed a significant as well as inverse association with Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) of physical activity. CONCLUSION: Low PAL and significant inverse correlation with various CVD risk factors demand interventions to maintain higher PAL among postmenopausal women of Bangladesh.