Background: The effects of compliance with the US Physical Activity (PA) Guidelines and changes in compliance over time on cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality are unknown.
Methods: Male participants in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (n = 15,411; 18-100 y) reported leisure-time PA between 1970 and 2002. The frequency of and time spent in PA were converted into metabolic equivalent minutes per week. The participants were classified into remained inactive, became active, became inactive, or remained active groups according to their achievement of the PA guidelines along the follow-up, equivalent here to at least 500 metabolic equivalent minutes of PA per week. Cox regression adjusted for different models was used for the analyses, using age, body mass index, smoking and drinking status, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, and parental history of CVD.
Results: Over a mean follow-up of 6.2 years, 439 CVD deaths occurred. Consistently meeting the PA guidelines, compared with not meeting, was associated with a 54% (95% confidence interval, 0.32-0.67) decreased risk of CVD mortality. After controlling for all potential confounders, the risk reduction was 47% (95% confidence interval, 0.36-0.77).
Conclusions: Maintaining adherence to the PA guidelines produces substantial reductions in the risk of CVD deaths in men. Furthermore, discontinuing compliance with the guidelines may offset the beneficial effects on longevity.
Keywords: cardiovascular health; physical inactivity; public health.