Effects of Leisure and Non-Leisure Physical Activity on Mortality in U.S. Adults over Two Decades Article

Arrieta, A, Russell, LB. (2008). Effects of Leisure and Non-Leisure Physical Activity on Mortality in U.S. Adults over Two Decades . ANNALS OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, 18(12), 889-895. 10.1016/j.annepidem.2008.09.007

cited authors

  • Arrieta, A; Russell, LB

authors

abstract

  • Purpose: To estimate the effects of the components of total physical activity, leisure-time and non-leisure activity, on all-cause mortality over two decades in a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. adults. Methods: We used the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I, 1971-1975) and its Epidemiologic Followup Study (NHEFS), which tracked deaths of NHANES I participants through 1992. Using multivariable Cox regression, and multiple imputation for missing values of control variables, we related baseline leisure-time and non-leisure physical activity to all-cause mortality during follow-up, controlling for other risk factors. Adults 35 through 59 years of age (N = 5884) and 60 through 74 years of age (N = 4590) were analyzed separately. Results: For persons aged 35-59, moderate non-leisure activity at baseline significantly reduced mortality risk over the next two decades by about 26%, high non-leisure activity by about 37%, compared with low non-leisure activity. For persons 60-74, risk reductions were 34% and 38%, respectively. Leisure-time activity was associated with lower mortality, but was not consistently significant when both types of activity were entered in the regressions. Conclusions: Over two decades, non-leisure physical activity was associated with a substantial reduction in all-cause mortality. These results contribute to a growing number of studies that support the importance of measuring all physical activity. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

publication date

  • December 1, 2008

published in

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 889

end page

  • 895

volume

  • 18

issue

  • 12