PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DURING LEISURE TIME AND PRIMARY PREVENTION OF CORONARY HEART DISEASE: AN UPDATED METAANALYSIS OF COHORT STUDIES
Abstract number: P-W-563
Sofi1 F., Capalbo2 A., Cesari1 F., Pucci1 N., Fatini1 C., Macchi3 C., Califano4 S., Gensini5 F., Abbate1 R., Gensini6 G.
11Medical and Surgical Critical Care, Thrombosis Centre, University of Florence, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi 22Medical and Surgical Critical Care, Thrombosis Centre, Institute of Sports Medicine 33Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, Onlus IRCCS 44Institute of Sports Medicine, Institute of Sports Medicine 55Clinical Pathophysiology, University of Florence, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi 66Medical and Surgical Critical Care, Thrombosis Centre, Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, Florence, Italy
How-to-cite Sofi F, Capalbo A, Cesari F, Pucci N, Fatini C, Macchi C, Califano S, Gensini F, Abbate R, Gensini G. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DURING LEISURE TIME AND PRIMARY PREVENTION OF CORONARY HEART DISEASE: AN UPDATED META–ANALYSIS OF COHORT STUDIES. J Thromb Haemost 2007; 5 Supplement 2: P-W-563
Abstract
Introduction: A vast body of evidence showed a clear preventive role for physical activity on the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. We systematically assessed the relationship between physical activity during leisure time (LTPA) and primary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) in an updated meta–analysis of prospective cohort studies.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library and bibliographies of retrieved articles. Studies were included if they reported relative risks and their corresponding 95% CIs for categories of LTPA in relation to CHD.
Results: Eighteen cohort prospective studies, incorporating 363,553 subjects (16,103 CHD events) followed up for 4–23 years, met the inclusion criteria. We grouped all the categories of LTPA reported into 3 levels of intensity: high, moderate and low or sedentary. The high level of physical activity was determined in order to obtain a level of intensity attainable by the general population. Under a random–effect model, the overall analysis showed that individuals who reported to perform a high level LTPA had a significant protection versus CHD (relative risk 073 [95% CI 065–081], p<000001). A similar significant protection on the occurrence of CHD for subjects who practise a moderate level of LTPA has been also demonstrated (relative risk 086, [95% CI 081–092], p<00001).
Conclusions: The present meta–analysis reports a significant protection of a moderate–to–high level of physical activity against the occurrence of CHD. These results strengthen the recommendations of guidelines indicating the protective effect against cardiovascular disease of physical activity profiles attainable by the ordinary people.
