Sedentary behavior & health-related quality of life among congestive heart failure patients.

BACKGROUND: Previous research demonstrates that participation in light-intensity physical activity (LIPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) are favorably associated with health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Emerging work demonstrates that sedentary behavior (SB) is detrimentally associated with various cardiometabolic biomarkers, with few studies exploring the association of SB on HRQOL, and no studies examining this among congestive heart failure patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential independent associations of SB on HRQOL among congestive heart failure patients.

METHODS: Data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used. Physical activity was assessed over 7days during all waking hours using the ActiGraph 7164 accelerometer. HRQOL was assessed using the Centers for Disease Control HRQOL index survey.

RESULTS: 190 participants self-reported a physician-diagnosis of congestive heart failure. After adjustments, SB behavior (1-min/day increase) was associated with worse HRQOL (β=0.004; 95% CI: 0.0004-0.007; P=0.03). When MVPA was added as a covariate to this model, SB remained significantly associated with worse HRQOL (β=0.003; 95% CI: 0.0001-0.007; P=0.04). However, when adding LIPA to this model that also included MVPA as a covariate, SB was no longer associated with HRQOL (β=0.0001; 95% CI: -0.003-0.004; P=0.92).

CONCLUSIONS: If confirmed by prospective/experimental work, this suggests that SB may not have detrimental HRQOL effects among congestive heart failure patients.