Investigation of resting metabolic rate, daily physical activity, pulmonary functions, physical fitness and body composition in patients with cholelithiasis

It is known that the life style changes affect characteristics of patients with cholelithiasis. In this study, investigation of differences of physical fitness parameters (maximal aerobic capacity, muscle strength, flexibility), daily physical activity, resting metabolic rate, pulmonary functions, body composition, arterial stiffness, dietary intake, health related quality of life as well as the associations among these parameters was aimed in patients with cholelithiasis versus healthy controls. The patients were diagnosed as cholelithiasis by a specialist in general surgery clinic. A total of thirty female patients with cholelithiasis and thirty healthy female controls were included in this study. Maximal aerobic capacity was determined by Astrand submaximal exercise protocol. Handgrip strength and back-leg strength were measured with dynamometers; spinal flexibility was measured with flexion meter; daily physical activity was measured with metabolic holter; resting metabolic rate determined with indirect calorimeter; pulmonary function tests were measured with portable spirometer. Body composition was determined by using bioelectric impedance analysis system; arterial stiffness determined by using pulse wave analysis method. Skinfold thickness was measured by skinfold caliper, and body circumference measurements were carried out by tape measure. Quality of life questionnaires (SF36) and dietary intake record were applied to all participants. Statistical analyses were done using t-test and Pearson correlation tests of SPSS 18.0 computer program. The mean maximal aerobic capacity, spine flexibility, daily total energy expenditure, resting metabolic rate, daily moderate activity time, daily vigorous activity time, daily active energy expenditure, pulmonary function tests, stiffness index, body mass index, body fat percentage, lean body mass, daily dietary intake values, and all SF36 scores did not differ significantly between the patients with cholelithiasis and the healthy controls. Vascular age and daily sleep time values were higher in patients with cholelithiasis than the ones in healthy controls, whereas daily step number, handgrip strength and back-leg strength values were lower in cholelithiasis group compared to the control group. Vascular age value showed negative correlations with physical activity parameters, aerobic exercise capacity and pulmonary functions values, while it showed positive correlation with daily sleep time value in patients with cholelithiasis. In conclusion, it was found that vascular age and daily sleep time were increased, daily energy intake and expenditure were not different, but muscle strength and daily physical activity were impaired in patients with cholelithiasis compared to healthy controls. We suggest that the exercise therapy which includes the aerobic exercises together with strengthening exercises might be more beneficial to increase well being in patients with cholelithiasis. Key words: Gallstone, daily physical activity, resting metabolic rate, physical fitness, aerobic capacity, strength, arterial stiffness, body fat, quality of life.