Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Mortality in an Elderly Population in Northern Manhattan: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Background: Previous studies of exercise have focused on measuring physical activity in totality using summary statistics such as metabolic equivalent score for total intensity or total energy count.
Objective: We aimed to examine the multidimensionality of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) and to identify the specific LTPA components that were associated with cardiovascular mortality in the elderly.
Design and Participants: The Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) is a multiethnic prospective cohort of elderly stroke-free individuals consisting of a total of 3298 participants recruited between 1993 and 2001, with a median follow-up of 17 years.
Main Measures: Physical activity questionnaire data were available in 3293 NOMAS participants, who were categorized into subgroups with similar exercise patterns by model-based cluster analysis. Three subgroup-defining LTPA features were identified and were considered as primary exposures in Cox proportional hazard models: frequency of activity, number of activity types (variety), and energy-to-duration ratio (EDR). We considered cardiovascular mortality and non-cardiovascular mortality as outcomes in Cox cause-specific proportional hazard models, and all-cause mortality as outcome in Cox models.
Key Results: A high activity frequency was associated with reduced cardiovascular mortality (hazard ratio, HR = 0.93, P = 0.03), but demonstrated no effect on non-cardiovascular death. A high EDR was associated with increased risk of cardiovascular death (HR = 1.30, P = 0.01). A high number of activity types was beneficial in reducing all-cause mortality (HR = 0.87, P = 0.01).
Conclusions: Exercise frequency was protective against cardiovascular mortality, and a high variety of activity was protective against all-cause mortality. The performance of frequent and varied non-intense exercise in an elderly population such as ours is achievable and can reduce the risk of death.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Funding/Support This study was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants R01 HL111195 (Cheung/Elkind), NS K23073104 (Willey), and R01 NS029993 (Sacco/Elkind). Role of the Funder/Sponsor The funding source had no role in the design and conduct of the study with regard to the collection, management, analysis, or interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.