Ethnic differences in all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by physical activity levels among older adults in the US |
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| Authors: | Elizabeth Vásquez Karine Sahakyan John A Batsis Cassandra Germain Virend K Somers Benjamin A Shaw |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University at Albany (SUNY), Albany, NY, USA;2. Division of Cardiovascular Disease, Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA;3. Section of General Internal Medicine, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH, USA;4. Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH, USA;5. Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA;6. The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy &7. Clinical Practice, Lebanon, NH, USA;8. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA;9. 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 |
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| Abstract: | Aims: 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.Methods: 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.Results: 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.Conclusion: 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. |
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| Keywords: | Ethnicity mortality physical activity race |
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