Prevalence of physical activity and sedentary behavior among adults with cardiovascular disease in the United States

Abstract

Background: Physical activity (PA) is recommended for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study described the prevalence of self-reported and accelerometer-measured PA and sedentary behavior, using a nationally representative sample from the United States, a subset of whom had CVD, including angina, coronary heart disease (CHD), congestive heart failure (CHF), and myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods: Using the most recently available accelerometer data (combined 2003-2006) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the study sample included 680 adults with CVD, who completed a questionnaire and wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for 1 week. A group without CVD (n = 1000) was also selected as the referent, with similar age, gender, and race/ethnic distributions as those with CVD (angina, CHD, CHF, MI) to compare PA and sedentary behavior estimates. Percentages and means were weighted to reflect the US population from 2003 to 2006.

Results: Among those with CVD, the proportion of individuals who engaged in self-reported past-month, moderate-intensity leisure activity ranged from 39.7% (CHF) to 53.8% (CHD) and vigorous-intensity leisure activity from 12.9% (CHF) to 18.4% (CHD), with walking being the most commonly reported activity. Television watching ≥4 h/d ranged from 36.2% (MI) to 44.8% (CHF). Using accelerometry, moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA ranged from 8.6 (CHF) to 11.4 min/d (angina). Sedentary behavior ranged from 9.6 (angina) to 10.1 h/d (CHF). All 4 CVD groups had lower leisure activity and moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA, and higher television watching and sedentary behavior, when compared with the referent group.

Conclusions: Further efforts are needed to encourage PA and reduce sedentary behavior for secondary prevention of CVD.