Physical activity and long-term mortality risk in older adults: A prospective population based study (NEDICES)

To analyze whether Physical activity (PA) reduces mortality risk at thirteen years' follow-up in a population-based cohort of Spanish older adults. The NEDICES (Neurological Disorders in Central Spain) is a prospective population-based survey of older adults (age ≥ 65 years) that comprised 5278 participants at baseline. A modified version of the Rosow-Breslau questionnaire was applied to categorize the PA (sedentary, light, moderate and high) and dates of death were collected from the Official Spanish Death Registry. Cox regression models adjusted for different covariates (age, sex, marital status, smoking, previous stroke, Parkinson disease, incident dementia, body mass index, comorbidity indexes and functional assessment) were used to evaluate the hazard of death at thirteen years' interval according to different levels of PA. 1710 deaths (52.9% men vs. 47.1% women) were identified among 3633 individuals at thirteen years' follow-up. Hazard ratios (HRs) of the light, moderate, and high PA groups (vs. sedentary group) were 0.64 (95% confidence interval (CI) [0.56, 0.72], p < 0.001), 0.61 (95% CI [0.53, 0.70], p < 0.001) and 0.48 (95% CI [0.41, 0.55], p < 0.001), respectively. Significant dose effects were observed between light versus the sedentary group and intense versus the moderate group. PA prevents long-term mortality in older Spanish adults, with the highest intensity levels being those related to the lowest risk of mortality. These findings indicate that health policies for old age care should include PA as one of the main targets.