Association of Sedentary Time and Incident Heart Failure Hospitalization in Postmenopausal Women
The 2018 US Physical Activity Guidelines have indicated a direct relation between sedentary behavior and risk of heart failure (HF) development. Still, there is less knowledge about sedentary behavior’s (SB) role in heart failure (HF). The author Lamonte and colleagues (2020) conducted a research titled “Association of Sedentary Time and Incident Heart Failure Hospitalization in Postmenopausal Women” published in The American Heart Association Journal. The summary of the study is given below:
Objective:
To investigate the association between SB and incident HF hospitalization in postmenopausal women enrolled in the WHIOS (Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study).
Method:
A total of 80982 women was studied in WHIOS. Women between the age of 50 to 79 years, who were not known HF patients and reported the ability to walk ≥1 block without assistance at baseline were included in the study. Mean follow-up was 9 years for incidence of HF hospitalization. SB was evaluated repeatedly by questionnaire. Time-varying total SB was categorized by time spent on different sedentary activities.
Findings:
A higher risk of incident acute HF hospitalization was found in older postmenopausal women with greater SB. Investigators suggest increasing activity-related energy expenditure and decrease the sedentary time for the prevention of HF in later life. Prolonged SB promotes atherosclerosis onset and progression by causing adverse cardiometabolic, hemostatic, and inflammatory biomarker profiles associated with increased risk for ischemic HF. Investigators hence add, that long time SB can have a similar effect for HF in postmenopausal women as obesity and diabetes.
Hence, individuals should be motivated with improved strategies to reduce SB and increase physical activity for HF prevention.
Limitation:
There is a scope for misinterpretation as an assessment of SB is conducted using a questionnaire. Enrolled women from WHIOS could be categorized as healthy because the baseline prevalence of CHD, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation were lower than the general population of women in the age range studied. This resulted in fewer incident HF hospitalization. Questionnaires failed to recognize SB patterns, and therefore investigators could not evaluate their association to HF risk. Investigators acknowledge that they did not have sufficient information to evaluate SB and HF subtypes in this study.
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