TY - JOUR
T1 - Does exercise reduce mortality rates in the elderly? experience from the Framingham Heart Study
AU - Sherman, Scott E.
AU - D'Agostino, Ralph B.
AU - Cobb, Janet L.
AU - Kannel, William B.
N1 - Funding Information:
From the *Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Sepulveda, and the Department of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles; the bDepartment of Mathematics, Boston University; and the CSection of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Boston University School of Medicine. Supported by the Framingham Heart Study Visiting Scholar’s Fund, which includes support from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; ICI Pharma; Merck, Sharp, and Dohme; and Pfizer Inc. Received for publication Dec. 13, 1993; accepted Jan. 24, 1994. Reprint requesta: Scott E. Sherman, MD, PACE Center--OOPG, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 16111 Plummer St., Sepulveda, CA 91343. 4/1/67049
PY - 1994/11
Y1 - 1994/11
N2 - Regular physical activity decreases the mortality rate in middle-aged men and probably in middle-aged women. It is unknown whether this is also true in the elderly. We studied 285 men and women aged 75 years or older who were free of cardiovascular disease. Subjects were ranked by baseline physical activity levels and grouped into quartiles. After adjustments were made for cardiac risk factors, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer, women in the second most active quartile had a much lower risk of mortality at 10 years (relative risk 0.24, 95% confidence interval 0.12 to 0.51). There was no statistically significant difference in men. There appeared to be an excess of sudden cardiac deaths in the most active women, although this group still lived longer than the least active women. We conclude that women aged 75 years or older who are more active live longer. This benefit may be attenuated in those who are extremely active.
AB - Regular physical activity decreases the mortality rate in middle-aged men and probably in middle-aged women. It is unknown whether this is also true in the elderly. We studied 285 men and women aged 75 years or older who were free of cardiovascular disease. Subjects were ranked by baseline physical activity levels and grouped into quartiles. After adjustments were made for cardiac risk factors, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer, women in the second most active quartile had a much lower risk of mortality at 10 years (relative risk 0.24, 95% confidence interval 0.12 to 0.51). There was no statistically significant difference in men. There appeared to be an excess of sudden cardiac deaths in the most active women, although this group still lived longer than the least active women. We conclude that women aged 75 years or older who are more active live longer. This benefit may be attenuated in those who are extremely active.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0028044212&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0028044212&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/0002-8703(94)90596-7
DO - 10.1016/0002-8703(94)90596-7
M3 - Article
C2 - 7942491
AN - SCOPUS:0028044212
SN - 0002-8703
VL - 128
SP - 965
EP - 972
JO - American Heart Journal
JF - American Heart Journal
IS - 5
ER -