The Effect of a Community-Based, Primary Health Care Exercise Program on Inflammatory Biomarkers and Hormone Levels

Abstract EN

The aim of this study was to analyze the impact of a community-based exercise program in primary care on inflammatory biomarkers and hormone levels.

The 1-year quasiexperimental study involved 13 women (mean age = 56.8 ± 11.4 years) and it was developed in two basic health care units in Rio Claro City, Brazil.

The physical exercise intervention was comprised of two, 60-minute sessions/week.

The inflammatory biomarkers were measured at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year.

Repeated measures ANOVA analyses indicated that the intervention was effective in reducing CRP and TNFα after 1 year compared to baseline and 6 months ( P < 0.05 ) .

There were no changes in IL10, IL6, and insulin after 1 year.

However, leptin significantly increased at 1 year ( P = 0.016 ) .

The major finding of this study is that a community-based exercise program can result in a decrease or maintenance of inflammatory biomarkers after 1 year, and thus has the potential to be a viable public health approach for chronic disease prevention.