The relationship between sedentary behavior and quality of life in a sample of cardiac rehab patients

Purpose: People with heart disease tend to experience a reduced health-related quality of life (QOL). Regular physical activity (PA) has been linked to improved outcomes, but little is known regarding the role of sedentary behavior. The objective of this study was to examine the association between sedentary behavior and QOL in a sample of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients.

Methods: To date, we have recruited 201 participants for a study examining PA in CR patients. For this submission, we report results based on 152 participants (mean age = 64 years; mean BMI = 29 kg/m2) who completed a questionnaire and wore an Actigraph accelerometer for nine days at the beginning of their CR program. Seven days of wear-time data were selected in order to calculate the percentage of total wear time engaged in sedentary behavior (mean = 80%). Five questionnaire items measuring quality of life (QOL) were summed to yield a total score.

Results: A multiple regression test on QOL with % sedentary as the predictor and age and BMI as covariates yielded a significant R of 0.30, F (3,141) = 4.50, p<.05. In the context of the model, age (β = 0.25, p<.05) and % sedentary (β = -0.22, p<.05) significantly predicted QOL.

Conclusions: According to the results, a greater percentage of time being sedentary is associated with a reduced QOL in a sample of CR patients. This further indicates the importance of promoting physical activity as a means to enhance the QOL of people with heart disease.