Physical Activity Modifies Link Between Sedentary Time, Mortality

Oct 26, 2023

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 25, 2023 (HealthDay News) — For individuals accumulating less than 22 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day, sedentary time is associated with higher mortality risk, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in the British Journal of Medicine.

Edvard H. Sagelv, Ph.D., from UiT The Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø, and colleagues examined whether MVPA modifies the association between sedentary time and mortality and vice versa in an individual patient analysis of four prospective cohort studies involving 11,989 participants aged 50 years and older.

The researchers found that during a median follow-up of 5.2 years, 6.7 percent of participants died. Among those accumulating <22 minutes of MVPA per day, more than 12 daily sedentary hours was associated with mortality risk (hazard ratio, 1.38). There was an association seen for higher MVPA with lower mortality, regardless of sedentary time; for example, hazard ratios for 10 versus 0 daily minutes of MVPA were 0.85 and 0.65 for those accumulating <10.5 and ≥10.5 daily sedentary hours, respectively. In joint accumulation analyses, higher MVPA was confirmed to be superior to lower sedentary time for lowering mortality risk; for example, 10 versus 0 daily minutes of MVPA was associated with a 28 to 55 percent lower mortality risk across the sedentary time spectrum (lowest risk, 10 daily sedentary hours; hazard ratio, 0.45).

“Efforts to promote physical activity may have substantial health benefits for individuals, and small amounts of MVPA may be an effective strategy to ameliorate mortality risk associated with high sedentary time,” the authors write.

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