Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.

<h4>Background</h4>There is overwhelming evidence that behavioural factors influence health, but their combined impact on the general population is less well documented. We aimed to quantify the potential combined impact of four health behaviours on mortality in men and women living in t...

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Main Authors: Kay-Tee Khaw, Nicholas Wareham, Sheila Bingham, Ailsa Welch, Robert Luben, Nicholas Day
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2008-01-01
Series:PLoS Medicine
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012&type=printable
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author Kay-Tee Khaw
Nicholas Wareham
Sheila Bingham
Ailsa Welch
Robert Luben
Nicholas Day
author_facet Kay-Tee Khaw
Nicholas Wareham
Sheila Bingham
Ailsa Welch
Robert Luben
Nicholas Day
author_sort Kay-Tee Khaw
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>There is overwhelming evidence that behavioural factors influence health, but their combined impact on the general population is less well documented. We aimed to quantify the potential combined impact of four health behaviours on mortality in men and women living in the general community.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>We examined the prospective relationship between lifestyle and mortality in a prospective population study of 20,244 men and women aged 45-79 y with no known cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline survey in 1993-1997, living in the general community in the United Kingdom, and followed up to 2006. Participants scored one point for each health behaviour: current non-smoking, not physically inactive, moderate alcohol intake (1-14 units a week) and plasma vitamin C >50 mmol/l indicating fruit and vegetable intake of at least five servings a day, for a total score ranging from zero to four. After an average 11 y follow-up, the age-, sex-, body mass-, and social class-adjusted relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for all-cause mortality(1,987 deaths) for men and women who had three, two, one, and zero compared to four health behaviours were respectively, 1.39 (1.21-1.60), 1.95 (1.70--2.25), 2.52 (2.13-3.00), and 4.04 (2.95-5.54) p < 0.001 trend. The relationships were consistent in subgroups stratified by sex, age, body mass index, and social class, and after excluding deaths within 2 y. The trends were strongest for cardiovascular causes. The mortality risk for those with four compared to zero health behaviours was equivalent to being 14 y younger in chronological age.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Four health behaviours combined predict a 4-fold difference in total mortality in men and women, with an estimated impact equivalent to 14 y in chronological age.
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spelling doaj-art-2fa0790a79884f07b19b531fa3a82d082025-08-20T02:00:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Medicine1549-12771549-16762008-01-0151e1210.1371/journal.pmed.0050012Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.Kay-Tee KhawNicholas WarehamSheila BinghamAilsa WelchRobert LubenNicholas Day<h4>Background</h4>There is overwhelming evidence that behavioural factors influence health, but their combined impact on the general population is less well documented. We aimed to quantify the potential combined impact of four health behaviours on mortality in men and women living in the general community.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>We examined the prospective relationship between lifestyle and mortality in a prospective population study of 20,244 men and women aged 45-79 y with no known cardiovascular disease or cancer at baseline survey in 1993-1997, living in the general community in the United Kingdom, and followed up to 2006. Participants scored one point for each health behaviour: current non-smoking, not physically inactive, moderate alcohol intake (1-14 units a week) and plasma vitamin C >50 mmol/l indicating fruit and vegetable intake of at least five servings a day, for a total score ranging from zero to four. After an average 11 y follow-up, the age-, sex-, body mass-, and social class-adjusted relative risks (95% confidence intervals) for all-cause mortality(1,987 deaths) for men and women who had three, two, one, and zero compared to four health behaviours were respectively, 1.39 (1.21-1.60), 1.95 (1.70--2.25), 2.52 (2.13-3.00), and 4.04 (2.95-5.54) p < 0.001 trend. The relationships were consistent in subgroups stratified by sex, age, body mass index, and social class, and after excluding deaths within 2 y. The trends were strongest for cardiovascular causes. The mortality risk for those with four compared to zero health behaviours was equivalent to being 14 y younger in chronological age.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Four health behaviours combined predict a 4-fold difference in total mortality in men and women, with an estimated impact equivalent to 14 y in chronological age.https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012&type=printable
spellingShingle Kay-Tee Khaw
Nicholas Wareham
Sheila Bingham
Ailsa Welch
Robert Luben
Nicholas Day
Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.
PLoS Medicine
title Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.
title_full Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.
title_fullStr Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.
title_full_unstemmed Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.
title_short Combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.
title_sort combined impact of health behaviours and mortality in men and women the epic norfolk prospective population study
url https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050012&type=printable
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