Abstract
Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) especially Ischemic Heart Diseases (IHD) are responsible for more than 40% of mortalities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. As is the case in the Western hemisphere, physical inactivity is the most prevalent CVDs risk factor2. The aim of this research was to determine the association of the physical activity indices (work, sport and leisure-time indices), and body weight measures with the risk of developing IHD in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Materials and methods: This case control study was conducted during 2003 and 2004 in Tehran Heart Center and Tehran Shahid Rajaii hospital. A sample of 100 IHD patients (cases) and 100 healthy individuals served as control. The controls were matched to the IHD patients by age ($\pm 5$ years), sex. Information about Physical activity was recorded by means of the Beacke questionnaire. Some important risk factors including hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes and Body Mass Index (BMI) were also recorded. All the data were statistically analyzed with the SPSS for Windows. All reported P values are based on two-sided and compared to a significance level of 5%.
Results: The patients had significantly lower indices for work, sports and Leisure time Physical Activity (P<0.001). Analysis of BMI showed that there was a significant association between obesity and the risk of developing IHD (P=0.01). There was a significant negative correlation between BMI and Leisure Time Physical Activity index: the higher the BMI, the lower the likelihood of participation in Leisure Time Physical Activity activities. After multivariate analysis, the Leisure Time Physical Activity (LTPA) independently had a protective effect against developing IHD risk, also in the cases group. Obesity increased the risk of IHD nearly 4 times more in comparison with normal subjects.
Conclusion: Physical activity has a beneficial effect on IHD risk developing and IHD related predisposing risk factors.