Summary of studies examining the association between physical activity or fitness and all cause mortality in women
| Author and year, country study design | No of women | Age (years) | Duration (years)* | No of deaths | Assessment of physical activity | Main results‡ | Factors adjusted for | Other comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Maximum duration of the study unless otherwise specified; †mean (SD); ‡values in parentheses are 95% confidence intervals. | ||||||||
| AMI, Acute myocardial infarction; BMI, body mass index; CHD, coronary heart diseases; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases; CVD, cardiovascular diseases; DM, diabetes mellitus; ECG, electrocardiogram; LTPA, leisure time physical activity; LVH, left ventricular hypertrophy; MET, metabolic equivalent; MI, myocardial infarction; OPA, occupational physical activity; RR, relative risk. | ||||||||
| Andersen 2000, Denmark262 prospective cohort studies combined (Copenhagen City Heart Study; Glostrup Population Studies) | 13375 | 20–93 | 14 (5)† | 2881 | 2 questions on LTPA and OPA in the previous year, with 4 response options for each question, assessed by questionnaire. | v inactive LTPA Light: RR = 0.65, p<0.001 Moderate: RR = 0.59, p<0.001 Vigorous: RR = 0.64, p = 0.20 | Age, educational level, blood pressure, lipid levels, BMI, and smoking | Adjustment for chronic disease did not change findings. |
| Among subjects with light, moderate, and heavy LTPA, Sports participation: RR = 0.47 (0.34 to 0.66) | Inverse association observed for women aged 20–44, 45–64, and ≥65. | |||||||
| v sitting OPA More active OPA: RR = 0.86 (0.74 to 0.99) | Age and educational level | |||||||
| Hirvensalo 2000, Finland13Prospective cohort study (Evergreen Project at Jyvaskyla) | 718 | 65–84 | 8 | 225 | Assessed by interview, using a question with 6 response options, plus questions about participation in a list of sports. Women were then classified as sedentary or active. | v mobile-active Mobile-sedentary: RR = 0.87 (0.55 to 1.40) Impaired-active: RR = 1.72 (1.10 to 2.70) Impaired-sedentary: RR = 2.63 (1.82 to 3.81) | Age, marital status, education, presence of asthma, diabetes, neurological diseases, stroke, mental diseases, CVD, musculoskeletal diseases, smoking, and past physical activity | |
| Mobility was defined as being able to walk 2 km and climb one flight of stairs without difficulty. | ||||||||
| Stessman 2000, Israel24Prospective cohort study (Jerusalem 70 year Longitudinal Study) | 207 | 70 | 6 | 24 | 1 question on LTPA with 4 response options, assessed by interview. | v <4 hours walking/week Walks about 4 hours/week: RR = 0.28 (0.05 to 1.47) Sports activity ≥2μ/week: RR = 0.91 (0.26 to 3.19) Walks ≥1 hour/day: RR = 0.17 (0.02 to 1.53) p for trend = 0.17 | Smoking, economic hardship, and pre-existing medical conditions | |
| Lee 2000, US30Prospective cohort study (US Longitudinal Study of Aging) | 7527 (both sexes) | ≥70 | 7 | 2870 (both sexes) | “Compared to other people your age, would you say you are physically more active, less active, or about as active?” | v a lot more active than peers More active: RR = 0.99 About as active: RR = 1.18, p<0.1 Less active: RR = 1.40, p<0.01 | Sociodemographic characteristics, functioning, diseases, use of services, and self assessed general and mental health | |
| “Do you feel that you get as much exercise as you need, or less than you need?” | v getting as much exercise as needed Less than needed: RR = 1.05 | |||||||
| Haapanen 2000, Northeastern Finland14Prospective cohort study | 1122 | 35–63 | 16 | 87 | Energy expenditure index assessed by questionnaire with 23 questions on LTPA, household chores and commuting. | v >1500 kcal/week 800.1–1500 kcal/week: RR = 0.59 (0.30 to 1.18) 0–800 kcal/week: RR = 1.27 (0.69 to 2.34) | Age, employment status, marital status, perceived health status, smoking, and alcohol consumption | |
| Single-item self assessment of LTPA. | v vigorous activity ≥1/week No or light intensity: RR = 1.61 (0.89 to 2.92) | |||||||
| Single-item self assessment of physical fitness compared with age-mates. | v better physical fitness Similar: RR = 0.82 (0.41 to 1.65) Worse: RR = 1.71 (0.72 to 4.05) | |||||||
| Single-item self assessment of 2 km walking ability. | v no difficulties walking 2 km At least some difficulties: RR = 1.45 (0.78 to 2.70) | |||||||
| Single-item self assessment of ability to climb several flights of stairs. | v no difficulties climbing stairs At least some difficulties: RR = 2.39 (1.25 to 4.60) | |||||||
| Dorn 1999, USA41Prospective cohort study (Buffalo Blood Pressure Study) | 763 | 15–95 | 29 | 276 | LTPA and OPA assessed in interview by 28 questions on time spent sleeping, sitting, driving, standing, caring or lifting, walking, gardening, exercising and playing sports. | For every 1 kcal/kg/hour of physical activity, <60 years: RR = 1.05 (0.59 to 1.87) ≥60 years: RR = 1.04 (0.62 to 1.74) | Age, education, smoking, and mean arterial blood pressure | |
| Sherman 1999, USA9Prospective cohort study (Framingham Heart Study) | 1410 | 30–62 | 16 | 522 | Time spent sleeping, resting, or engaging in light, moderate, or heavy physical activity assessed by interview 11–27 years previously and at baseline. | 11–27 years previously, per MET-hour/day RR = 1.01 (0.96 to 1.07) | Age, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, smoking, relative weight, glucose intolerance, LVH, COPD, and cancer | |
| At baseline, per MET-hour/day RR = 0.84 (0.76 to 0.93) | ||||||||
| Villeneuve 1998, Canada22Prospective cohort study (Canada Fitness Survey) | 8196 | 20–69 | 7 | 502 | Average daily energy expenditure in the past 12 months on LTPA estimated from modified Minnesota LTPA questionnaire based on a subset of the 19 most frequently reported activities, in KKD (kcal/kg body weight/day). | v lowest KKD (<0.5) in LTPA 0.5 to <1.5 KKD: RR = 0.94 (0.69 to 1.30) 1.5 to <3.0 KKD: RR = 0.92 (0.64 to 1.34) ≥3.0 KKD: RR = 0.71 (0.45 to 1.11) | Age and smoking | |
| v lowest KKD (<0.5) in nonvigorous LTPA among subjects without vigorous (≤6METs) LTPA 0.5 to <1.5 KKD: RR = 0.97 (0.69 to 1.36) 1.5 to <3.0 KKD: RR = 0.92 (0.64 to 1.34) ≥3.0 KKD: RR = 0.72 (0.43 to 1.21) | ||||||||
| Participation in vigorous LTPA RR = 0.71 (0.48 to 1.05) | ||||||||
| 3 levels of fitness based on Canadian Aerobic Fitness Test. | v recommended fitness level (both sexes) Minimum: RR = 1.02 (0.69 to 1.51) Undesirable: RR = 1.52 (0.72 to 3.18) | Age, sex, and smoking | Sex-specific results not presented for fitness. | |||||
| Weller 1998, Canada23Prospective cohort study (Canada Fitness Survey) | 6620 | ≥30 | 7 | 449 | Average daily energy expenditure on all activities estimated from modified Minnesota LTPA questionnaire in KKD (kcal/kg body weight/day). | v lowest KKD quartile (Q1) of leisure activity Q2: RR = 0.91 (0.66 to 1.25) Q3: RR = 0.94 (0.72 to 1.23) Q4: RR = 0.89 (0.67 to 1.17) | Age | Adjustment for marital status, educational level, income, self reported health status, and smoking did not change findings |
| v lowest KKD quartile (Q1) of non-leisure activity Q2: RR = 0.66 (0.50 to 0.87) Q3: RR = 0.68 (0.51 to 0.89) Q4: RR = 0.71 (0.50 to 0.87) | ||||||||
| Kujala 1998, Finland15Prospective cohort study (Finish Twin Study) | 7977 | 25–64 | 18 | 424 | 3 levels of LTPA plus calculated MET index assessed by questionnaire on type of activity, frequency, duration, and intensity. | v sedentary (both sexes) Occasional exercisers: RR = 0.80 (0.69 to 0.91) Conditioning exercisers: RR = 0.76 (0.59 to 0.98) | Age, sex, smoking, occupation, and alcohol use | Women were free of chronic diseases |
| among same sex twin pairs discordant for death,v sedentary (among 148 female twin pairs) Occasional exercisers: RR = 0.66 Conditioning exercisers: RR = 0.24 | Age, smoking, occupation, and alcohol use. | |||||||
| v lowest MET quintile (Q1) (among 434 twin pairs of both sexes) Q2: RR = 0.85 Q3: RR = 0.72 Q4: RR = 0.68 Q5: RR = 0.60 p for trend = 0.04 | Age, sex, smoking, occupation, and alcohol use | |||||||
| Bath 1998, UK31Prospective cohort study (Nottingham Longitudinal Study of Activity and Ageing) | 1042 (both sexes) | ≥65 | 12 | 369 (women) | Interview asking about outdoor productive activities, indoor productive activities, walking, shopping, leisure activities, strength activities, and flexibility activities. | v high activity Intermediate: RR = 1.22 (0.91 to 1.63) Low: RR = 1.73 (1.28 to 2.33) | Age, health status, smoking, and weight | |
| Roger 1998, USA25(Olmsted county, Minnesota) Retrospective cohort study | 741 | 51 (15)† | 6 (2)† | 46 | Physical fitness determined by maximal exercise test on treadmill, in METs. | For each 1 MET increase workload RR = 0.75 (0.65 to 0.88) | Age and comorbidity | Similar findings were seen when excluding first 3 years of follow up. |
| Kushi 1997, USA32Prospective cohort study (Iowa Women's Healthy Study) | 40417 | 55–69 | 7 | 2260 | Questionnaire with 2 questions on frequency of moderate and vigorous LTPA. | v rarely/never participating in moderate activity 1/week–few/month: RR = 0.71 (0.63 to 0.79) 2–4/week: RR = 0.63 (0.56 to 0.71) >4/week: RR = 0.59 (0.51 to 0.67) p for trend <0.001 | Age, reproductive factors, alcohol use, total energy intake, smoking, estrogen use, BMI at baseline and 18 years, waist/hip ratio, high blood pressure, diabetes, education level, marital status, and family history of cancer | Similar findings observed when excluding women with CVD or cancer and first 3 years of follow-up. Subjects were post-menopausal women only. |
| v rarely/never participating in vigorous activity 1/week-few/month: RR = 0.83 (0.69 to 0.99) 2–4 /week: RR = 0.74 (0.59 to 0.93) >4 /week: RR = 0.62 (0.42 to 0.90) p for trend = 0.009 | ||||||||
| 3-level LTPA index based on combined frequency and intensity. | v low activity index Medium: RR = 0.77 (0.69 to 0.86) High: RR = 0.68 (0.60 to 0.77) p for trend <0.001 | |||||||
| Morgan 1997, UK33Prospective cohort study (Nottingham Longitudinal Study of Activity and Ageing) | 635 | ≥65 | 10 | 321 | Interview, asking about outdoor productive activities, indoor productive activities, walking, shopping, leisure activities, strength activities, and flexibility activities. | v high activity Intermediate: RR = 1.53 (1.12 to 2.09) Low: RR = 2.07 (1.53 to 2.79) | Age, health status, and smoking | |
| Fraser 1997, USA37Prospective cohort study (Adventist Health Study) | 1083 | ≥25 | 9–11 | 80 | 2 questions on LTPA (participation in various vigorous activities ≥15 min, ≥3μ/week) and OPA (5 options). | v no exercise Medium: RR = 0.6 (0.3 to 1.8) Vigorous: RR = 0.5 (0.3 to 1.0) | Age, adventist, smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, and BMI. | Subjects were black women only. Exclusion of subjects with chronic diseases yielded non-significant RRs of 1.00, 1.08, and 0.96, respectively, for both sexes combined. |
| Miilunpalo 1997, Northeastern Finland16Prospective cohort study | 1500 | 35–63 | 11 | 244 (both sexes) | Questionnaire assessing perceived physical fitness compared with similarly aged mates; 3 point scale. | v better Average: RR = 2.21 (0.85 to 5.74) Worse: RR = 3.78 (1.39 to 10.28) | Age, social status, and number of physician contacts | |
| Schroll 1997, Denmark34Prospective cohort study (Nordic Research on Ageing Study) | 210 | 75 | 5 | 41 | Assessed by interview and categorised into sedentary (hardly any physical activity or mostly sitting with occasional light activity) or physically active (light physical exercise around 2–4 hours/week or more). | v physically active Sedentary: RR = 1.31 <0.01 | None | |
| Kampert 1996, USA5Prospective cohort study (Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study) | 6674 | 20–88 | mean, 8 | 66 | Physical activity assessed by questionnaire on walking, running, and other sports/leisure activities over the past months. | v no reported activities 1–10 min/week: RR = 0.68 (0.39 to 1.17) 11–20 min/week: RR = 0.39 (0.09 to 1.65) ≥21 min/week: RR = 1.14 (0.27 to 4.80) p for trend = 0.22 | Age, examination year, smoking, chronic illness, and ECG abnormalities | Fitness data not shown because identical with those of Blair et al6. |
| Kaplan 1996, USA38Prospective cohort study (Alameda County Study) | 3299 | 16–94 | 28 | 587 | LTPA index assessed using answers to three questions on physical exercise, sports participation, and walking/swimming. | v lowest LTPA tertile (T1) T2: RR = 0.42 T3: RR = 0.22 | None | Adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, education, health conditions, and social isolation still yielded significant inverse associations. |
| LaCroix 1996, USA42(Seattle, Washington) Prospective cohort study | 1030 | ≥65 | 4 | 65 | LTPA in the previous 2 weeks assessed from Modified Minnesota LTPA questionnaire. | v walked <1 hour/week 1–4 hours/week: RR = 0.83 (0.53 to 1.29) >4 hours/week: RR = 0.91 (0.58 to 1.42) | Age, sex, functional status, smoking status, BMI, chronic disease score, self rated health, and alcohol consumption | Women were without severe disability or heart disease. |
| Sex-specific results were not presented for multivariate analysis. In crude analysis, p for trend in women, <0.01. | ||||||||
| Lissner 1996, Sweden27(Gothenburg) Prospective cohort study | 1405 | 38–60 | 20 | 424 | 2 questions on LTPA and OPA in the previous year, with 4 response options for each question, assessed by questionnaire in 1968–69 and 1974–75. | v low LTPA in 1968–69 Medium: RR = 0.56 (0.39 to 0.82) High: RR = 0.45 (0.24 to 0.86) | Age | Women were free of CVD, cancer, and diabetes. |
| v low OPA in 1968–69 Medium: RR = 0.28 (0.17 to 0.46) High: RR = 0.24 (0.14 to 0.43) | Findings little changed with additional adjustment for smoking, alcohol use, education, BMI, waist/hip ratio, diet, blood pressure, blood lipids, and peak expiratory flow. | |||||||
| Compared with no change in LTPA between 1968–1969 and 1974–1975 Increased: RR = 1.11 (0.67 to 1.86) Decreased: RR = 2.07 (1.39 to 3.09) | ||||||||
| Mensink 1996, Germany18Prospective cohort study (German Cardiovascular Prevention Study) | 1212 | 40–69 | mean, 6 range, 5–8 | 66 | Frequency and time spent on 18 leisure activities during the previous 3 months. Each activity assigned a MET score and classified as total activity, LTPA, conditioning activity (excluding walking, cycling, gardening) and sports activity. | v low total activity Moderate: RR = 1.24 (0.60 to 2.58) High: RR = 1.29 (0.58 to 2.85) | Age, systolic blood pressure, total serum cholesterol, smoking, and BMI | |
| v low LTPA Moderate: RR = 0.94 (0.51 to 1.75) High: RR = 0.81 (0.44 to 1.49) | ||||||||
| v low conditioning activity Moderate: RR = 0.38 (0.13 to 1.06) High: RR = 0.80 (0.42 to 1.54) | ||||||||
| v no sports activity <1 hour/week: RR = 0.38 (0.12 to 1.23) <1–2 hours/week: RR = 0.52 (0.23 to 1.17) >2 hours/week: RR = 0.28 (0.07 to 1.17) | ||||||||
| Blair 1996, USA6Prospective cohort study (Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study) | 7080 | 20–88 | mean, 8 range, 0.1–19 | 89 | Physical fitness determined by maximal exercise test on treadmill. Subjects classified as low (least fit 20%), moderate (next 40%) and high (most fit 40%) fit. | v high fit Low fit: RR = 2.10 (1.36 to 3.26) | Age, examination year, smoking, systolic blood pressure, cholesterol, parental history of CHD, BMI, fasting glucose, abnormal ECG, and chronic illness | Most women were apparently healthy at baseline. 350 had abnormal ECG, and 958 reported a history of chronic illnesses (MI, stroke, hypertension, DM, or cancer). |
| Ruigómez 1995, Spain39Prospective cohort study (Health Interview Survey of Barcelona) | 749 | ≥65 | 5 | 109 | Face to face home interviews. Total physical activity estimated from single question and categorised as active (“doing a job that requires a great deal of physical effort” or “walking frequently during the day”) or sedentary (“expending most part of their day-time standing up but not walking” or “sitting most of the day”). | v active Sedentary: RR = 1.30 (0.77 to 2.18) | Age, sex, education, and perceived health status | |
| Sherman 1994, USA11Prospective cohort study (Framingham Heart Study) | 1404 | 50–74 | 16 | 319 | Time spent sleeping, resting, or engaging in light, moderate, or heavy physical activity assessed by interview. Composite score (physical activity index: PAI) computed as sum of hours per activity level μ weight factor based on oxygen consumption. | v lowest activity quartile (Q1) Q2: RR = 0.93 (0.70 to 1.23) Q3: RR = 0.65 (0.47 to 0.90) Q4: RR = 0.68 (0.49 to 0.94) | Age, systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, smoking, weight, presence or absence of glucose tolerance, LVH, COPD, and cancer | Subjects were free of CVD at the baseline. |
| Excluding first 6 years of follow up yielded similar results. | ||||||||
| Sherman 1994, USA10Prospective cohort study (Framingham Heart Study) | 189 | ≥75 | 10 | 126 | Time spent sleeping, resting, or engaging in light, moderate, or heavy physical activity assessed by interview. Composite score (physical activity index: PAI) computed as sum of hours per activity level μ weight factor based on oxygen consumption. | v lowest activity quartile (Q1) Q2: RR = 0.70 (0.38 to 1.29) Q3: RR = 0.26 (0.12 to 0.55) Q4: RR = 0.39 (0.20 to 0.77) | Age, systolic blood pressure, serum cholesterol, smoking, weight, presence or absence of glucose tolerance, LVH, COPD, and cancer | Excluding first 6 years of follow up yielded similar results. |
| Subjects were free of CVD at the baseline. | ||||||||
| Davis 1994, USA29Prospective cohort study (NHANES I Follow-up Study) | 3197 | 45–74 | 10 | 673 | 2 questions with 3 response options each | v very active Inactive (1) Non-recreational (2) Recreational 45–54 years RR: 1.3 (0.5 to 3.3) 0.9 (0.4 to 2.4) 55–64 years RR: 1.7 (0.8 to 3.7) 2.2 (0.8 to 6.6) 65–74 years RR: 2.1 (1.5 to 2.8) 1.0 (0.7 to 1.4) | Smoking, alcohol, BMI, age, race, education, income, employment status, living arrangement, diet quality, and chronic conditions | |
| (1) non-recreational activity: “In your usual day, aside from recreation are you physically very active, moderately active, or quite inactive?” | ||||||||
| (2) recreational activity: “Do you get much, moderate, or little or no exercise in the things you do for recreation?” | Moderately active 45–54 years RR: 1.2 (0.6 to 2.2) 0.8 (0.3 to 2.3) 55–64 years RR: 1.3 (0.7 to 2.1) 1.7 (0.6 to 5.2) 65–74 years RR: 1.2 (1.0 to 1.6) 0.8 (0.5 to 1.1) | |||||||
| Blair 1993, USA7Prospective cohort study (Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study) | 3120 | mean, 40.9 | mean, 8 | 43 | LTPA assessed by questionnaire asking about 18 common activities over the past months. | v high LTPA Moderate: RR = 0.75 (0.41 to 1.39) Low: RR = 0.95 (0.54 to 1.70) p for trend = 0.31 | Age | Fitness data not shown because identical with those of Blair et al.8 |
| Subjects with no activities were classified as inactive, those who walked, jogged, or ran as highly active, and all others as moderately active. | ||||||||
| Weyerer 1993, Germany19Prospective cohort study (Upper Bavarian Field Study) | 844 | ≥5 | 5 | 41 | LTPA assessed by interview with single question, “How often do you currently exercise for sports (never, occasionally, or regularly)?” | v regular LTPA Occasional: RR = 1.14 (0.24 to 5.30) Never: RR = 1.51 (0.41 to 5.54) | Age, social class, physical and psychiatric disorders | |
| Rehm 1993, Germany20Prospective cohort study (Upper Bavarian Field Study) | 778 | ≥15 | 13 | 118 | LTPA assessed by interview with single question, “How often do you currently exercise for sports (never, occasionally, or regularly)?” | v never Occasional: RR = 0.69 (0.33 to 1.46) Regular: RR = 0.50 (0.20 to 1.25) | Age and physicians' judgment of the severity of somatic disorders within the last year | Differences in sample size from those of Weyerer et al (1993)19 due to available information on vital status. |
| C-Claude 1993, Germany21Prospective cohort study (German Vegetarian Study) | 1046 | ≥10 | 11 | 225 (both sexes) | Total physical activity classified as low, medium and high by self evaluation. | v low physical activity Medium or high: RR = 0.43 (0.22 to 0.82) | Age, adherence to vegetarianism, duration of vegetarianism, and BMI | Similar decreases for CHD, but not cancer mortality. |
| Rakowski 1992, USA35Prospective cohort study (US Longitudinal Study of Aging) | 3679 | ≥70 | 5 | 555 | LTPA assessed by responses to questions: | v walk ≥4 days/week 2–3 days/week: RR = 1.72 (1.01 to 2.05) 1 day/week: RR = 1.48 (0.70 to 3.10) <1 day/never: RR = 2.49 (1.64 to 3.80) | Age, sex, race, education, living arrangement, self rated health, social involvement, heart condition, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, functional status, and BMI | |
| “How often do you walk a mile or more at a time, without resting?” and “Do you follow a regular routine of physical exercise?” | v have exercise routine No: RR = 1.32 (1.03 to 1.69) | |||||||
| Blair 1989, USA8Prospective cohort study (Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study) | 3120 | mean, 40.9 | mean, 8 | 43 | Physical fitness determined by maximal exercise test on treadmill; women categorszed into quintiles. | v highest fitness quintile (Q5) Q4: RR = 1.07 (0.55 to 2.23) Q3: RR = 1.07 (0.55 to 2.09) Q2: RR = 1.45 (0.80 to 2.62) Q1: RR = 1.98 (1.13 to 3.47) p for trend <0.05 | Age, serum cholesterol level, systolic blood pressure, BMI, smoking, parental death from CHD, and serum glucose level | Women were free of chronic diseases and abnormal ECG at baseline. |
| Garfinkel 1988, USA40Prospective cohort study (Cancer Prevention Study II) | 496284 | mean, 58 | 2 | 2865 | “How much exercise do you get (work or play)?” with 4 response options. | Exercise inversely related to mortality in both smokers and nonsmokers; exact results not provided. | Age, relative weight | |
| Lapidus 1986, Sweden35(Gothenburg) Prospective cohort study | 1424 | 38–60 | 12 | 75 | 2 questions on LTPA and OPA in the previous year, with 4 response options for each question, assessed by questionnaire. | v 3 highest categories of LTPA or OPA Least active category of LTPA: RR = 1.9 (1.1 to 3.2) Least active category of OPA: RR = 5.2 (2.8 to 9.7) | Age | Women were free of MI. |
| Salonen 1982, Eastern Finland17Prospective cohort study | 3784 | 35–59 | 7 | 75 | 2 questions on LTPA and OPA in the previous year, with 4 response options for each question, assessed by questionnaire. | v 2 highest levels of LTPA or OPA 2 lowest levels of LTPA: RR = 1.6 (1.0 to 2.3) 2 lowest levels of OPA: RR = 2.2 (1.5 to 3.3) | Age, serum cholesterol, diastolic blood pressure, BMI, and smoking | Women were free of AMI, angina, and stroke in the preceding 12 months. |
| 90% confidence intervals provided. | ||||||||
| Wingard 1982, USA36Prospective cohort study (Alameda County Study) | 2496 | 30–69 | 9 | 160 | Based on the frequency (often, sometimes, never) and presumed strenuousness of leisure time participation in active sports, swimming or long walks, physical exercises, gardening and/or hunting and classified as active or inactive. | v active Inactive: RR = 1.7 p = 0.01 | Age, race, socioeconomic status, occupation, use of health services, weight status, sleeping patterns, and church or group membership. | |
| Kannel 1979, USA12Prospective cohort study (Framingham Heart Study) | 2311 | 35–69 | 14 | 269 | Time spent sleeping, resting, or engaging in light, moderate, or heavy physical activity assessed by interview. Composite score (physical activity index: PAI) computed as sum of hours per activity level μ weight factor based on oxygen consumption. | p>0.05 for association of PAI with mortality. | Age, systolic blood pressure, smoking, serum cholesterol, glucose intolerance, and LVH. | |