Independent and combined association of physical activity and cardiac disease on mortality risk in the very old.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated physical activity as a predictor of all-cause mortality among 75- and 80-year-old people with and without chronic cardiac disease over a 10-year follow-up period.


METHODS
Using the Evergreen Project data, four study groups were formed according to the respondent's self-reported level of physical activity as well as chronic cardiac diseases: active without cardiac disease (control group = ANCD), active with cardiac disease (ACD), sedentary without cardiac disease (SNCD), and sedentary with cardiac disease (SCD).


RESULTS
In the analyses, the ACD (HR 1.69, 95% CI 1.02-2.81) and the SNCD (1.76, 1.14-2.73) groups had almost one and a half times greater risk of dying than the control group, while the SCD group had almost three times (2.77, 1.80-4.26) greater risk of dying than the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
Among the older people with cardiac disease, a physically active lifestyle was associated with lower mortality.
Aijö
Marja
M
University of Jyväskylä, Finland. marja.aijo@savonia.fi
Parkatti
Terttu
T
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002908:Chronic Disease; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D009043:Motor Activity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D057566:Self Report