Leisure time physical activity and health-related quality of life.
BACKGROUND
There are few data on the relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and leisure time physical activity (LTPA) in the general population. We investigated the relationships of meeting public health recommendations (PHR) for moderate and vigorous physical activity with HRQoL in French adult subjects.


METHODS
LTPA and HRQoL were assessed in 1998 in 2333 men and 3321 women from the SU.VI.MAX. cohort using the French versions of the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire (MAQ) and the SF-36 questionnaire, respectively. Relationship between LTPA and HRQoL was assessed using analysis of variance.


RESULTS
Results from multivariate analysis showed that meeting physical activity recommended levels was associated with higher HRQoL scores (except in Bodily pain dimension for women): differences in mean HRQoL scores between subjects meeting or not PHR ranged from 2.4 (Mental health) to 4.5 (Vitality) and from 2.2 (Bodily pain) to 5.7 (Vitality) for women and men, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Subjects meeting PHR for physical activity had better HRQoL than those who did not. Our data suggest that 30' of moderate LTPA per day on a regular basis may be beneficial on HRQoL. Higher intensity LTPA is associated with greater HRQoL. This emphasizes the importance to promote at least moderate physical activity.
Vuillemin
Anne
A
EA 3444-Ecole de Santé Publique, Faculté de Médecine, Université Henri Poincaré, 54505 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex, France. Anne.Vuillemin@staps.uhp-nancy.fr
Boini
Stéphanie
S
Bertrais
Sandrine
S
Tessier
Sabrina
S
Oppert
Jean-Michel
JM
Hercberg
Serge
S
Guillemin
Francis
F
Briançon
Serge
S
D015331:Cohort Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors