Sedentary behaviour patterns and carotid intima-media thickness in Spanish healthy adult population

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the association between sedentary behaviour, as assessed by an accelerometer, and mean carotid intima-media thickness (IMT). Methods: The study included 263 healthy subjects belonging to the EVIDENT study (59.3% women). Carotid IMT was measured by carotid ultrasonography. Sedentary behaviour was measured objectively over 7 days using ActiGraph accelerometers. Thresholds of 10 consecutive minutes were used to establish sedentary bouts, and assess the number (n/day), and length 10 min (min/day). Results: Total sedentary time and sedentary time in bouts 10 min was higher in participants with a larger mean carotid IMT (>P75). Otherwise, this sedentary time in bouts 10 min parameter was weakly associated with augmented carotid IMT injury in the logistic regression model. Conclusion: Total sedentary time and sedentary time in bouts 10 min, as assessed by accelerometer, was positively but weakly associated with carotid IMT. Equally, this sedentary time in bouts 10 min was associated with carotid injury, but disappears after adjusting for potential confounders. These findings support that reducing sedentary time and increasing breaks in bouts of sedentary time might represent a useful additional strategy in the cardiovascular disease prevention. Trial Registration: Clinical Trials.gov Identifier: NCT01083082.The EVIDENT Grou