Ethnic differences in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by physical activity levels among older adults in the US.
This study sought to determine whether the association between varying levels of physical activity (PA) and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality differ by race/ethnicity in older adults.



The sample comprised 2520 women and 2398 men drawn from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988-1994) aged ≥ 60 years. We used the metabolic equivalent (MET) of self-reported PA levels to define activity groups (inactive: those who did not report any PA; active: those who reported 3-6 METs for ≥5 times/week or >6 METs, ≥3 times/week; insufficiently active: those meeting neither criteria). Racial/Ethnic differences were modeled using proportional hazard regression (HR) adjusting for age, education, smoking, diabetes, and hypertension.



Among those classified as inactive, Non-Hispanic Blacks (NHB) (HR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.58-0.90) and Mexican Americans (HR: 0.59, 95%CI: 0.45-0.78) had a lower risk of all-cause mortality when compared to non-Hispanic Whites (NHW). Among those classified as insufficiently active, Mexican Americans (HR: 0.63, 95% CI: 0.51-0.77), but not NHB (HR: 0.81, (95% CI: 0.64-1.02) had a lower risk of all-cause mortality when compared to NHWs Similar results were observed for cardiovascular mortality.



Overall, PA in the elderly (either insufficient or active) is associated with a lower all-cause mortality across all race/ethnic groups as compared to NHW. Further investigation, including studies with larger sample, is needed to address the health consequences of varying degrees of PA in ethnically diverse populations.
a Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health , University at Albany (SUNY) , Albany , NY , USA.
Elizabeth
E
Vásquez
b Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine , Mayo Clinic , Rochester , MN , USA.
Karine
K
Sahakyan
c Section of General Internal Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center , Lebanon , NH , USA.|d Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth , Hanover , NH , USA.|e Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging, Dartmouth College , Hanover , NH , USA.|f The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice , Lebanon , NH , USA.
John A
JA
Batsis
g Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences , Duke University Medical Center , Durham , NC , USA.
Cassandra
C
Germain
b Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine , Mayo Clinic , Rochester , MN , USA.
Virend K
VK
Somers
h Department of Health Policy, Management and Behavior, School of Public Health and Center for Social and Demographic Analysis , University at Albany (SUNY) , Albany , NY , USA.
Benjamin A
BA
Shaw
D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D017058:Mexican Americans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D044469:Racial Groups; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
Ethnicity; mortality; physical activity; race