Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jan 25;170(2):194-201.
doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2009.503.

Physical activity at midlife in relation to successful survival in women at age 70 years or older

Qi Sun  1 , Mary K Townsend, Olivia I Okereke, Oscar H Franco, Frank B Hu, Francine Grodstein
Affiliations

Physical activity at midlife in relation to successful survival in women at age 70 years or older

Qi Sun et al. Arch Intern Med. .

Abstract

Background: Physical activity is associated with reduced risks of chronic diseases and premature death. Whether physical activity is also associated with improved overall health among those who survive to older ages is unclear.

Methods: A total of 13,535 Nurses' Health Study participants who were free of major chronic diseases at baseline in 1986 and had survived to age 70 years or older as of the 1995-2001 period made up the study population. We defined successful survival as no history of 10 major chronic diseases or coronary artery bypass graft surgery and no cognitive impairment, physical impairment, or mental health limitations.

Results: After multivariate adjustment for covariates, higher physical activity levels at midlife, as measured by metabolic-equivalent tasks, were significantly associated with better odds of successful survival. Significant increases in successful survival were observed beginning at the third quintile of activity: odds ratios (ORs) (95% confidence intervals [CIs]) in the lowest to highest quintiles were 1 [Reference], 0.98 (0.80-1.20), 1.37 (1.13-1.65), 1.34 (1.11-1.61), and 1.99 (1.66-2.38) (P < .001 for trend). Increasing energy expenditure from walking was associated with a similar elevation in odds of successful survival: the ORs (95% CIs) of successful survival across quintiles of walking were 1 [Reference], 0.99 (0.80-1.21), 1.19 (0.97-1.45), 1.50 (1.24-1.82), and 1.47 (1.22-1.79) (P < .001 for trend).

Conclusion: These data provide evidence that higher levels of midlife physical activity are associated with exceptional health status among women who survive to older ages and corroborate the potential role of physical activity in improving overall health.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors had any financial or personal conflict of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure
Figure
BMI and physical activity at baseline in relation with the odds of successful survival in the Nurses’ Health Study. The odds ratios were adjusted for the same covariates in the multivariate model 1 in Table 2.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2007 with Chartbook on Trends in the Health of Americans. Hyattsville, MD: 2007. - PubMed
    1. He W, Sengupta M, Velkoff VA, DeBarros KA. 65+ in the United States: 2005. Washington DC: U.S. Census Bureau; 2005.
    1. Newman AB, Arnold AM, Naydeck BL, et al. “Successful aging”: effect of subclinical cardiovascular disease. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:2315–22. - PubMed
    1. Reed DM, Foley DJ, White LR, Heimovitz H, Burchfiel CM, Masaki K. Predictors of healthy aging in men with high life expectancies. Am J Public Health. 1998;88:1463–8. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Willcox BJ, He Q, Chen R, et al. Midlife risk factors and healthy survival in men. Jama. 2006;296:2343–50. - PubMed

Publication types