Gender differences in objectively assessed physical activity between asthmatic and non-asthmatic children: a descriptive comparative study among Cypriot schoolchildren

Abstract

While asthma may be viewed as a barrier to exercise, physical activity has been proposed to protect against asthma development. Commonly using self-reported measures, studies have reported comparable or even higher physical activity in asthmatic compared to non-asthmatic children. With the use of accelerometers, the aim here was to compare and assess any gender differences in physical activity between asthmatic children and their peers. METHODS: A sample of 104 children aged 8-9 years whose parents reported ever having asthma in a community-based study were further categorized into active and inactive asthma based on report of at least one episode of wheezing in the last 12 months and were compared to a control group of 98 randomly selected children matched for gender. Logistic regression was used to examine gender differences in the association between asthma status and physical activity measured for seven consecutive days with the use of an accelerometer. RESULTS: While no overall difference in physical activity was observed between controls and children with active or inactive asthma, there appeared to be important gender-differences, Specifically, girls with inactive and active asthma had significantly lower moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) than their healthy peers with geometric means ratios of activity (min/day) of 0.73 (95% CI: 0.503, 1.048; p-value=0.086) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.369, 0.929; p-value=0.024) respectively. In contrast, no differences were observed between boys with either active or inactive asthma and their healthy peers; p-value of likelihood ratio test for effect modification by gender =0.034. CONCLUSIONS: This gender difference may mask a true difference in levels of physical activity, at least between asthmatic and non-asthmatic girls, in an overall comparison (i.e. both gender combined) and it can at least partly explain the existing confusion in the literature as to whether asthmatic children are as physically active as healthy children.