This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Many women with CVD have low physical activity
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Among women with CVD, the proportion with suboptimal physical activity is increasing and is greater in certain racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.
Suboptimal physical activity in this population leads to higher health care costs over time, the researchers wrote.
Victor Okunrintemi, MD, MPH, an internal medicine resident at East Carolina University, who was a research fellow at Johns Hopkins University when the study was conducted, and colleagues sought to determine trends, sociodemographic factors and health care expenditures associated with suboptimal physical activity among a nationally representative sample of U.S. women with CVD.
The researchers analyzed serial data from 18,027 women in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey between 2006 and 2015. Included in the data were women who had self-reported CVD and/or a diagnosis of it, Okunrintemi and colleagues wrote.
Recommended physical activity was defined as 30 minutes or more of moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise, 5 or more days per week, the researchers wrote. A two-part econometric model was used to assess health care expenditures.
Results were weighted to provide estimates for approximately 19.5 million adult women in the U.S. (mean age, 60 years).
Women with CVD who reported suboptimal physical activity was lower in 2006-2007 compared with the rate in 2014-2015 (58.2% vs. 61.9%; P = .004), the researchers wrote.
In adjusted models, black women (OR = 1.22; 95% CI, 1.08-1.38) and Hispanic women (OR = 1.33; 95% CI, 1.13-1.58) were more likely to have suboptimal physical activity compared with non-Hispanic white women, Okunrintemi and colleagues wrote.
Health care costs among women with CVD with suboptimal physical activity were higher compared with women with CVD who met recommended physical activity. The mean total health care expenditure for women with CVD with suboptimal physical activity was $12,724 (95% CI, 11,627-13,821) in 2006-2007 and rose to $14,820 (95% CI, 13,521-16,119) in 2014-2015. By comparison, health care expenditures for women with CVD who met recommended physical activity were $8,811 in 2006-2007 and $10,504 in 2014-2015.
More must be done to improve physical activity for secondary prevention and reduction of expenditures among women with CVD, Okunrintemi and colleagues wrote.
“Physical activity is a known, cost-effective strategy for women with and without cardiovascular disease, and our study shows worsening health and financial trends over time among women with cardiovascular disease who don’t get enough physical activity,” Okunrintemi said in a press release. “We have more reason than ever to encourage women with cardiovascular disease to move more.” – by Earl Holland Jr.
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts