Weekend Warrior Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Incident Disability in Middle‐Aged and Older Adults: A UK Biobank Accelerometer Study

Vollständiger Abstract

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ABSTRACT Aim Regular moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is associated with lower risks of functional decline and disability. Whether concentrating MVPA into 1 or 2 days per week—the “weekend warrior” pattern—is associated with disability risk similarly to regularly distributed activity remains unclear, particularly among individuals with high sedentary behavior. Methods We analyzed wrist‐worn accelerometer data from 41 225 UK Biobank participants without identifiable baseline disability based on available indicators (mean age 61.6 years; 60.3% women). Participants were classified as inactive (< 150 min/week), weekend warriors (≥ 150 min/week with ≥ 50% accumulated in 1–2 days), or regularly active (≥ 150 min/week but not weekend warriors). Disability was assessed once during follow‐up and defined as a self‐reported need for assistance with at least one of six activities of daily living because of a health condition. Associations with incident disability were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models for interval‐censored outcomes, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle factors, and baseline health status. Results During a median follow‐up of 7.7 years, 2589 participants were classified as having disability at follow‐up. Compared with inactive individuals, weekend warrior and regularly active patterns were associated with similarly lower disability risk (weekend warrior: HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.61–0.75; regularly active: HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.60–0.73). These associations were observed across sedentary behavior levels. Conclusions Accumulating recommended MVPA within 1 or 2 days per week was associated with disability risk reductions comparable to regularly distributed activity. Flexible activity patterns may help support functional independence and healthy aging.