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. 2024 Sep 26:12:e18061.
doi: 10.7717/peerj.18061. eCollection 2024.

Associations between physical fitness, body composition, and heart rate variability during exercise in older people: exploring mediating factors

Diego Mabe-Castro  1   2 , Matías Castillo-Aguilar  1 , Matías Mabe-Castro  1   3 , Ruby Méndez Muñoz  1 , Carla Basualto-Alarcón  4   5 , Cristian Andrés Nuñez-Espinosa  1   3   6
Affiliations

Associations between physical fitness, body composition, and heart rate variability during exercise in older people: exploring mediating factors

Diego Mabe-Castro et al. PeerJ. .

Abstract

Background: Age-related changes in body composition affect physical fitness in older adults. However, whether the autonomic response is associated with body fat percentage and its implication for physical fitness is not fully understood.

Aim: To understand the association between physical fitness, body composition, and heart rate variability in older people and its mediating factors.

Methods: A cross-sectional study with 81 older adults was conducted, assessing Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB), Two-minute Step Test (TMST), body composition, and cardiac autonomic response. Correlation and mediation analyses were performed.

Results: Body fat percentage negatively correlated with physical fitness (SPPB: r = - 0.273, p = 0.015; TMST: r = - 0.279, p = 0.013) and sympathetic activity (sympathetic nervous system (SNS) index: r = - 0.252, p = 0.030), yet positively correlated with parasympathetic tone (root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD): r = 0.253, p = 0.029; standard deviation of NN intervals (SDNN): r = 0.269, p = 0.020). Physical fitness associated with sympathetic nervous system index (SPPB: r = 0.313, p = 0.006; TMST: r = 0.265, p = 0.022) and parasympathetic nervous system index (TMST: r = - 0.344, p = 0.003). Muscle mass mediated body fat's impact on physical fitness, while physical fitness mediated body fat's impact on autonomic response.

Conclusion: Body composition and cardiac autonomic response to exercise are associated with physical fitness in older people, highlighting a possible protective effect of muscle mass against the decline in physical fitness associated with increased body fat.

Keywords: Aging; Anthropometry; Exercise; Exercise test; Heart rate; Performance.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. The flow diagram of the included participants.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Bivariate dispersion plots between body fat and HRV-related measures.
Significance values for Pearson’s product-moment correlation test are shown.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Bivariate dispersion plots between physical fitness and body composition-related measures.
Significance values for Pearson’s product-moment correlation test are shown.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Bivariate dispersion plots between physical fitness and HRV-related measures.
Significance values for Pearson’s product-moment correlation test are shown.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Diagram of main results observed from the data.
Blue bidirectional arrows and boxes represent the correlation between variables, while orange unidirectional arrows and boxes represent the factors mediating the above correlations. “+” means that the mediating factor enhances the main observed effect, contrary to “-”, reflecting a diminished main effect when considering the mediating factor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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