Rest-Activity Rhythm Is Associated With Obesity Phenotypes: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Abstract

BackgroundThe prevalence of obesity continues to increase in spite of substantial efforts towards its prevention, posing a major threat to health globally. Circadian disruption has been associated with a wide range of preclinical and clinical disorders, including obesity. However, whether rest-activity rhythm (RAR), an expression of the endogenous circadian rhythm, is associated with excess adiposity is poorly understood. Here we aimed to assess the association of RAR with general and abdominal obesity.MethodsNon-institutionalized adults aged ≥20 years participating in the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2014 who wore accelerometers for at least four 24-hour periods were included (N=7,838). Amplitude, mesor, acrophase and pseudo-F statistic of RAR were estimated using extended cosinor model, and interdaily stability (IS) and intradaily variability (IV) were computed by nonparametric methods. We tested the association between rest-activity rhythm and general obesity defined by body mass index and abdominal obesity by waist circumference. Waist-to-height ratio, sagittal abdominal diameter, and total and trunk fat percentages measured by imaging methods were also analyzed.ResultsIn multivariable analysis, low amplitude (magnitude of the rhythm), mesor (rhythm-corrected average activity level), pseudo-F statistic (robustness of the rhythm), IS (day-to-day rhythm stability), or high IV (rhythm fragmentation) were independently associated with higher likelihood of general or abdominal obesity (all Ps<.05). Consistently, RAR metrics were similarly associated with all adiposity measures (all Ps<.01). Delayed phase of RAR (later acrophase) was only significantly related to general and abdominal obesity in women.ConclusionsAberrant RAR is independently associated with anthropometric and imaging measures of general and abdominal obesity. Longitudinal studies assessing whether RAR metrics can predict weight gain and incident obesity are warranted.

Actigraphic Correlates of Neuropsychiatric Disability in Adult Patients with Focal Epilepsy

“…In a univariate analysis, stepwise increases in BMI were also associated with significantly lower F scores and RAR amplitudes (Fig. S1D), replicating findings from the NHANES cohort 40 . These SOL results, while uncontrolled for a range of health variables, re-emphasize the importance age, sex and BMI in assessing RAR morphology.…”

“…We then examined whether RAR parameters within the larger SOL cohort vary by age, gender and BMI (as previously reported within NHANES actigraphy datasets 39,40 ). While we did not identify clear sex- or age-dependent changes in RAR amplitude, we identified a clear increase in F scores in female subjects and an age-dependent left -shifted acrophase (earlier mid-point, Fig.…”

“…Indeed, as we continue to build a detailed understanding of disease-RAR relationships, it is already clear that specific RAR distortions are unlikely to provide any diagnostic specificity, and therefore must always be informed by clinical context. For example, the combination of lower F and lower amplitudes has been identified in studies of patients with depression 34-37 , obesity 40 and late-stage Parkinson’s disease 77 .…”

“…A recent published analysis of the larger NHANES accelerometer dataset (8200 subjects ≥20 years of age) found that females display higher RAR amplitudes and F values across the age spectrum, while also reporting clear age-dependent decreases in amplitude, increases in F and a left-shifted (earlier) acrophase 39 . Obesity, as defined by the body mass index (BMI), was also shown to be associated with lower amplitudes and F 40 .…”

Trajectories of 24-Hour Physical Activity Distribution and Relationship with Dyslipidemia

“…Humans are a diurnal species and there are increasing studies dedicated to the search for the relationship between circadian rhythm and health. Circadian disruption has an effect on a wide range of preclinical and clinical disorders, including obesity and dyslipidemia [ 9 ]. Although researchers have not found a clear answer about the circadian regulation of lipid metabolism, it is well known that lipid pathways are under circadian control in all of the major metabolic organs [ 10 ].…”