Quality of life is not negatively affected by diet and exercise intervention in healthy men with cardiovascular risk factors

Health-related quality of life was assessed in a diet and exercise intervention study among 157 healthy men aged 35–60 years (mean ± s.d.; 46.2 ± 5.0) with moderately raised cardiovascular risk factors. The men were randomized to four groups, diet (D, n=40), exercise (E, n=39), diet plus exercise (DE, n=39), and no active intervention (controls (C) n=39). Quality of life was measured with two self-administered questionnaires; Subjective Symptoms Assessment Profile and Minor Symptom Evaluation Profile, at baseline and after 1.5, 3 and 6 months. Cardiovascular risk factors were investigated at baseline and after 6 months. As a result of changes in dietary habits and physical exercise in the three intervention groups, several important cardiovascular risk factors were significantly reduced. The quality of life/well-being did not differ between the four groups and did not change significantly in any of the groups during the study. There was, however, a tendency towards fewer gastrointestinal symptoms in group D and fewer cardiac symptoms in group DE. We conclude that advice on lifestyle changes in the form of diet and exercise reduce risk factors in middle-aged men without negative effects on their quality of life.This study was supported by grants from the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Karolinska Institute Foundation, and the Bayer Fellowship for general practitiones.