Interactive associations of physical activity, adiposity, and oral contraceptive use on C-reactive protein levels in young women.

Oral contraceptives (OCs) are the most frequently used type of birth control among young women. OC-users have higher C-reactive protein (CRP) values, an indicator of systemic inflammation, than do non-OC-users. In addition, adiposity (percent fat) is positively associated with CRP, and physical activity (PA) is inversely associated with CRP. The present study determined the interactive associations of PA, percent fat, and OC-use with CRP. Data were collected during 2012-2015 at the University of Georgia. Objective PA was measured via pedometers. Percent fat was measured via dual X-ray absorptiometry. The current OC-use was self-reported. High-sensitivity (hs) CRP was determined using venipuncture. Multivariate linear regression determined the interactive associations of percent fat, OC-use, and PA with hs-CRP. Participants (n = 247; mean age 18.9 ± 1.4 years, 60.7 percent white) accumulated a mean of 10,075.7 ± 3,593.4 steps/day. One-third of participants were categorized as overweight/obese by BMI (mean = 24.5 ± 4.8 kg/m ² , mean percent fat = 35.2 ± 6.8). The current OC-use was reported by 26.2 percent of the sample (n = 61). A significant three-way interaction (β = 0.01, p = .03) indicated that higher PA was associated with lower hs-CRP in non-OC-users with higher percent fat, but not among OC-users with higher percent fat. These results highlight the need to measure and account for the current OC-use in studies examining the relationship between PA and CRP.