High prevalence of physical inactivity among patients from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study. AIDS CARE
Schäfer et al. assessed levels of self-reported physical activity (PA) over time in 10’540 patients enrolled in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study (SHCS). The SHCS data were compared with data collected in the ’Sport Switzerland’ 2014 survey of the general Swiss population.
During 2009-2014, the percentage of patients reporting no free-time PA declined from 49% to 44%. In contrast, in the two ’Sport Switzerland’ surveys of the general population in 2008 and 2014, the percentage of individuals reporting no sports activities was lower and relatively stable over time with 27% and 26%, respectively. Patients with CDC category C infection and reduced CD4 cell count were less likely to be physically active than those in an early stage of infection and with higher CD4 cell counts. Compared with the general population, data patterns of PA were similar in HIV-infected individuals: Men were more physically active than women, with continuously decreasing levels of free-time PA after the age of 25. Patients with higher completed education reported more free-time PA than those with lower completed education; and residents in the German-speaking regions of Switzerland showed a trend towards higher levels of free-time PA than those in the French- and Italian speaking regions.
In conclusion, integrating PA counselling into the routine care of HIV-infected patients and promoting PA among this population has the potential to improve patients’ general state of health and to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.