Scheduled for Poster Session: The Study and Assessment of Activity and Performance Across Disciplines, Friday, April 11, 2008, 8:45 AM - 10:15 AM, Convention Center: Exhibit Hall, Reseach Consortium Poster Sessions


Identifying Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Middle-Aged Women

Jeonghun Shin1, Young-Doo Won2, Sang-Jo Kang3 and Minsoo Kang1, (1)Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN, (2)Chosun University, Gwangju, South Korea, (3)Korea National Sport University, Seoul, South Korea

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the major contributors for the high mortality rates of middle-aged women. Thus, it is important to identify the CVD risk factors and understand their risk levels. The study was designed to identify CVD factors in middle-aged women using the Rasch model. A total of 218 middle-aged women data were collected from Gwang-ju in Korea (average age of 43.13 ± 7.76 years old). Twelve potential CVD risk factors were selected from the previous literature. These factors include Obesity% [= (weight / standard weight) x 100], Waist-hip ratio, Body mass index, Systolic-blood pressure, Diastolic-blood pressure, Triglyceride, Glucose, High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, Low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, Total-cholesterol, Forced vital capacity, and Heart rate. Prior to the data analysis, each CVD risk factor was dichotomously scored (1 = undesirable; 2 = desirable). Using the Rasch model, CVD risk factors and person's health risk level were estimated. Model-data fit was determined by Infit and Outfit statistics (>= 0.5 and <=1.5). Overall, the model fit the data well (Infit and Outfit mean ± SD = 1.0 ± -0.1 and 1.0 ± -0.2, respectively). The level of CVD risk factors ranged from -2.46 (low risk) to 1.78 (high risk) in logits. The highest CVD risk factor was Obesity% (logits = 1.78), followed by the Triglyceride (logits = 1.00) and the Waist-hip ratio (logits = 0.86). The lowest CVD risk factor was Systolic-blood pressure (logits = -2.46), followed by the Total-cholesterol (logit = -1.26) and the High-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (logit = -0.86). The level of person's health risk ranged from -4.13 (low health risk) to 0.38 (high health risk). One-way ANOVA was used to find the difference in person's health risk level among three age groups (39 years old and younger; from 40 years through 49 years; 50 years old and older). One-way ANOVA result showed that there was a statistically significant difference by age, F = 5.474, p = .005. The younger middle-aged women has lower health risk level (-1.58 ± 1.20), compared to older age group women, from 40 years through 49 years (-1.07 ± 1.61) and 50 years old and older (-0.92 ± 0.88). In summary, the younger age group women had lower health risk levels than older age group women. Identifying high risk CVD factors may help individuals from early intervention to reduce their risk. Further investigation, including other CVD risk factors, such as smoking and physical inactivity, is warranted.
Keyword(s): disease prevention/wellness, health promotion, measurement/evaluation

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