Associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and diverticulitis in older adults

Examine the independent and joint associations of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and body mass index (BMI) with the prevalence of diverticulitis in older adults. 476 older adults (61% Female; 71 ± 5 years) with no history of myocardial infarction, stroke, cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, or diabetes were included in this cross-sectional study. Diverticulitis cases were identified by self-reported physician diagnosis from the medical history questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the prevalence of diverticulitis by tertiles of CRF and BMI category. CRF and BMI were further dichotomized into either "unfit" (the lowest one-third of CRF), "fit" (the upper two-thirds of CRF), "overweight/obese" (BMI [greater than or equal to]25.0 kg/m.sup.2 ), or "normal-weight" (BMI