Self-reported physical inactivity predicts survival after hospitalization for heart disease

Physical inactivity increases with age and is shown to be inverse and independently related to mortality among patients with coronary heart disease. However, the knowledge of this relationship among elderly heart patients is limited because of their exclusion from many studies. The aim of this study was to investigate how self-reported physical activity affects all-cause mortality among elderly patients admitted to hospital with coronary heart disease or congestive heart failure.An observational study was carried out, including patients ≥65 years of age who were admitted to a Coronary Unit with coronary heart disease or congestive heart failure. Patients were asked to fill in a questionnaire on physical activity and divided into a sedentary and non-sedentary group, and followed for vital status for 2½ years after admission. In total, 150 patients participated.Within this study, all-cause mortality was 27.3%. Sedentary patients had a 3.9-fold (95% CI, 1.9 to 7.8) increase in mortality compared to non-seden...