Any increase in physical activity reduces early mortality risk
Tuesday November 1st 2022
Increasing the amount of physical activity an inactive individual does – even at low levels – helps to reduce their risk of early mortality, a new Spanish study shows today.
The prospective cohort study followed 3,357 physically inactive patients who attended 11 Spanish public primary healthcare centres.
Researchers regularly measured the change in physical activity among participants of the Experimental Programme for Physical Activity Promotion clinical trial, which took place between 2003 and 2006.
There were 312 deaths to 31 December 2018, and survival time from the end of the clinical trial was analysed using proportional hazard models.
Writing in the latest edition of the *British Journal of General Practice*, researchers say that, after controlling for multiple potential confounders, mortality rates of individuals who were previously inactive but who adopted physical activity and reached the minimum recommendations of 150 minutes/week of moderate or 75 of vigorous activity, were about half of those who remained inactive.
Over the 12-year follow-up period – 46,191 person-years – 20% of deaths would have been avoided if all inactive patients had adopted these minimal recommendations, they concluded.
But even if the individuals managed to increase to any level of physical activity, it would have resulted in a significant reduction in mortality.
Mortality rates of those who achieved the minimum recommendations of 150–300 minutes per week of moderate-intensity activity or 75–150 minutes a week of vigorous-intensity exercise was reduced by 45%.
Those who did not meet these recommendations but increased physical activity in low doses, that is, 50 minutes a week of moderate physical activity, showed a 31% reduced mortality, while those who surpassed the recommendation saw a 49% reduction in mortality.
They found inactive patients who performed 10 minutes a day of moderate or five minutes of vigorous activity reduced mortality by 20%.
The research team say these statistics are important when negotiating a physical activity plan with patients who have been inactive for long periods of time and who have multiple barriers for changing their habit.
The authors say one of these barriers is that people believe it is necessary to reach certain minimum levels of physical activity, which may be considered unattainable.
However, if they understood that any increase in physical activity level results in positive benefits, the initial objectives of an exercise plan can be reduced to be more attainable.
Grandes G, Garcia-Alvarez A, Ansorena M et al. Any increment in physical activity reduces mortality risk of physically inactive patients: prospective cohort study in primary care. *British Journal of General Practice* 1 November 2022
Tags: Europe | Fitness | Heart Health
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