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Published on: January 7, 2013
Behavioral Lifestyles and Survival: A Meta-Analysis
Rocío Fernández-Ballesteros1, Elizabeth Valeriano-Lorenzo2, Macarena Sánchez-Izquierdo3
1Department of Psychobiology and Health, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Abstract:
The aim of the study is to determine the association between Behavioral Lifestyles (regular physical activity, healthy diet, sleeping, and weight control) and longevity in the elderly. A search strategy was conducted in the PsycInfo, Medline, PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), and Scopus databases. The primary outcome was mortality/survival. Four variables (mean of participant's age at the baseline of the study, follow-up years of the study, gender, and year of publication) were analyzed to evaluate the role of potential moderators. Ninety-three articles, totaling more than 2,800,000 people, were included in the meta-analysis. We found that the lifestyles analyzed predict greater survival. Specifically, doing regular physical activity, engaging in leisure activities, sleeping 7-8 h a day, and staying outside the BMI ranges considered as underweight or obesity are habits that each separately has a greater probability associated with survival after a period of several years.
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