J Prev Med Public Health.  2012 Jan;45(1):21-28. 10.3961/jpmph.2012.45.1.21.

Indoor Physical Activity Reduces All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality Among Elderly Women

• Park S
• Lee J
• Kang DY
• Rhee CW
• Park BJ

• KMID: 1120120
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2012.45.1.21

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to investigate whether a medium to high degree of total physical activity and indoor physical activity were associated with reduced all-cause and cardiovascular mortality among elderly Korean women.
METHODS
A prospective cohort study was done to evaluate the association between physical activity and mortality. The cohort was made up of elderly (> or =65 years of age) subjects. Baseline information was collected with a self-administered questionnaire and linked to death certificates retrieved from a database. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) levels.
RESULTS
Women who did not suffer from stroke, cancer, or ischemic heart disease were followed for a median of 8 years (n=5079). A total of 1798 all-cause deaths were recorded, of which 607 (33.8%) were due to cardiovascular disease. The group with the highest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity was significantly associated to a reduced all-cause mortality (HR, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.71 and HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.50 to 0.67, respectively) compared to the group with the lowest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity. Additionally, the group with the highest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity was significantly associated to a lower cardiovascular disease mortality (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.71 and HR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.67, respectively) compared to the group with the lowest level of total physical activity and indoor physical activity.
CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed that regular indoor physical activity among elderly Korean women has healthy benefits.

Keyword

Cardiovascular diseases; Exercise; Indoor physical activity; Mortality

MeSH Terms

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Cardiovascular Diseases/*mortality
*Cause of Death
Cohort Studies
Death Certificates
Exercise/*physiology
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Korea
Proportional Hazards Models
Prospective Studies
Risk Factors