Duration-response association between exercise and HDL in both male and female Taiwanese adults aged 40 years and above

Background Exercise is an important cardiovascular risk reducing therapy. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between weekly exercise duration and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) in Taiwanese men and women. Methods Data were retrieved from the dataset of the national adult preventive medical services which is recorded under the Health Promotion Administration (HPA). The lipid profiles of 194528 eligible participants aged 40 years and above who completed a questionnaire on recent health behavior including smoking, drinking, exercise and other factors in 2014 were determined. Weekly exercise durations of 0.0, <2.5 and ≥2.5 hours were classified as no, below recommended and recommended, respectively. The relationship between exercise and HDL-c was determined using linear regression. Results After multivariate adjustments, a duration-response association existed between exercise and HDL-c (P-trend <0.0001) in both sexes. Weekly exercise durations of <2.5 and ≥2.5 hours were both positively associated with HDL-c (P <0.0001) in both sexes. However, the associations were stronger in males than females in both exercise groups. Smoking (P <0.05) and BMI (P <0.0001) were negatively associated while drinking was positively associated with HDL-c in both sexes. Conclusion This study demonstrated a duration-response association between exercise and HDL-c. Exercise at durations below the minimum weekly recommendation of 2.5 hours was positively associated with HDL-c.