Physical Activity Levels, Correlates, and All-Cause Mortality Risk in People Living With Different Health Conditions

Feb 24

Physical Activity Levels, Correlates, and All-Cause Mortality Risk in People Living With Different Health Conditions

Background

To better understand physical activity behavior and its health benefits in people living with health conditions, we studied people with and without 20 different self-reported health conditions with regard to (1) their physical activity levels, (2) factors correlated with these physical activity levels, and (3) the association between physical activity and all-cause mortality.

Methods

We used a subsample (n = 88,659) of the Lifelines cohort study from the Netherlands. For people living with and without 20 different self-reported health conditions, we studied the aforementioned factors in relation to physical activity. Physical activity was assessed with the Short Questionnaire to Assess Health-Enhancing Physical Activity Questionnaire, and mortality data were obtained from the Dutch death register.

Results

People with a reported health condition were less likely to meet physical activity guidelines than people without a reported health condition (odds ratios ranging from 0.55 to 0.89). Higher body mass index and sitting time, and lower self-rated health, physical functioning, and education levels were associated with lower odds of meeting physical activity guidelines across most health conditions. Finally, we found a protective association between physical activity and all-cause mortality in both people living with and without different health conditions.

Conclusion

People living with different health conditions are generally less physically active compared with people living without a health condition. Both people living with and without self-reported health conditions share a number of key factors associated with physical activity levels. We also observed the expected protective association between physical activity and all-cause mortality.

Keywords

chronic disease; physical (in)activity; preventive care; sedentariness.

References

Jenny M Marks-Vieveen, Léonie Uijtdewilligen, Ehsan Motazedi, Dominique P M Stijnman, Inge van den Akker-Scheek 5, Adrie J Bouma, Laurien M Buffart, Vincent de Groot, Ellen de Hollander, Judith G M Jelsma, Johan de Jong, Helco G van Keeken, Leonie A Krops, Marike van der Leeden, Stephan A Loer, Willem van Mechelen, Femke van Nassau, Joske Nauta, Evert Verhagen, Wanda Wendel-Vos, Lucas H V van der Woude, Johannes Zwerver, Rienk Dekker, Hidde P van der Ploeg

About The Author

Femke van Nassau is a senior researcher at the Amsterdam UMC, VUmc, specializing in human movement science. Her work at the Department of Public and Occupational Health and the Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute focuses on developing, implementing, and scaling up lifestyle interventions to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behavior. With a PhD in scaling up school-based obesity prevention programs, she continues to lead innovative health promotion projects across various settings.