Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.

<h4>Background</h4>There is a paucity of information about cardiovascular outcomes related to exercise habit change after a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF). We investigated the association between exercise habits after a new AF diagnosis and ischemic stroke, heart failure (HF),...

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Main Authors: Hyo-Jeong Ahn, So-Ryoung Lee, Eue-Keun Choi, Kyung-Do Han, Jin-Hyung Jung, Jae-Hyun Lim, Jun-Pil Yun, Soonil Kwon, Seil Oh, Gregory Y H Lip
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2021-06-01
Series:PLoS Medicine
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003659&type=printable
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author Hyo-Jeong Ahn
So-Ryoung Lee
Eue-Keun Choi
Kyung-Do Han
Jin-Hyung Jung
Jae-Hyun Lim
Jun-Pil Yun
Soonil Kwon
Seil Oh
Gregory Y H Lip
author_facet Hyo-Jeong Ahn
So-Ryoung Lee
Eue-Keun Choi
Kyung-Do Han
Jin-Hyung Jung
Jae-Hyun Lim
Jun-Pil Yun
Soonil Kwon
Seil Oh
Gregory Y H Lip
author_sort Hyo-Jeong Ahn
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>There is a paucity of information about cardiovascular outcomes related to exercise habit change after a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF). We investigated the association between exercise habits after a new AF diagnosis and ischemic stroke, heart failure (HF), and all-cause death.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>This is a nationwide population-based cohort study using data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service. A retrospective analysis was performed for 66,692 patients with newly diagnosed AF between 2010 and 2016 who underwent 2 serial health examinations within 2 years before and after their AF diagnosis. Individuals were divided into 4 categories according to performance of regular exercise, which was investigated by a self-reported questionnaire in each health examination, before and after their AF diagnosis: persistent non-exercisers (30.5%), new exercisers (17.8%), exercise dropouts (17.4%), and exercise maintainers (34.2%). The primary outcomes were incidence of ischemic stroke, HF, and all-cause death. Differences in baseline characteristics among groups were balanced considering demographics, comorbidities, medications, lifestyle behaviors, and income status. The risks of the outcomes were computed by weighted Cox proportional hazards models with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) during a mean follow-up of 3.4 ± 2.0 years. The new exerciser and exercise maintainer groups were associated with a lower risk of HF compared to the persistent non-exerciser group: the hazard ratios (HRs) (95% CIs) were 0.95 (0.90-0.99) and 0.92 (0.88-0.96), respectively (p < 0.001). Also, performing exercise any time before or after AF diagnosis was associated with a lower risk of mortality compared to persistent non-exercising: the HR (95% CI) was 0.82 (0.73-0.91) for new exercisers, 0.83 (0.74-0.93) for exercise dropouts, and 0.61 (0.55-0.67) for exercise maintainers (p < 0.001). For ischemic stroke, the estimates of HRs were 10%-14% lower in patients of the exercise groups, yet differences were statistically insignificant (p = 0.057). Energy expenditure of 1,000-1,499 MET-min/wk (regular moderate exercise 170-240 min/wk) was consistently associated with a lower risk of each outcome based on a subgroup analysis of the new exerciser group. Study limitations include recall bias introduced due to the nature of the self-reported questionnaire and restricted external generalizability to other ethnic groups.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Initiating or continuing regular exercise after AF diagnosis was associated with lower risks of HF and mortality. The promotion of exercise might reduce the future risk of adverse outcomes in patients with AF.
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spelling doaj-art-96840b52f7c94f18930c9540e9e5a36e2025-08-20T02:55:27ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Medicine1549-12771549-16762021-06-01186e100365910.1371/journal.pmed.1003659Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.Hyo-Jeong AhnSo-Ryoung LeeEue-Keun ChoiKyung-Do HanJin-Hyung JungJae-Hyun LimJun-Pil YunSoonil KwonSeil OhGregory Y H Lip<h4>Background</h4>There is a paucity of information about cardiovascular outcomes related to exercise habit change after a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF). We investigated the association between exercise habits after a new AF diagnosis and ischemic stroke, heart failure (HF), and all-cause death.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>This is a nationwide population-based cohort study using data from the Korea National Health Insurance Service. A retrospective analysis was performed for 66,692 patients with newly diagnosed AF between 2010 and 2016 who underwent 2 serial health examinations within 2 years before and after their AF diagnosis. Individuals were divided into 4 categories according to performance of regular exercise, which was investigated by a self-reported questionnaire in each health examination, before and after their AF diagnosis: persistent non-exercisers (30.5%), new exercisers (17.8%), exercise dropouts (17.4%), and exercise maintainers (34.2%). The primary outcomes were incidence of ischemic stroke, HF, and all-cause death. Differences in baseline characteristics among groups were balanced considering demographics, comorbidities, medications, lifestyle behaviors, and income status. The risks of the outcomes were computed by weighted Cox proportional hazards models with inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) during a mean follow-up of 3.4 ± 2.0 years. The new exerciser and exercise maintainer groups were associated with a lower risk of HF compared to the persistent non-exerciser group: the hazard ratios (HRs) (95% CIs) were 0.95 (0.90-0.99) and 0.92 (0.88-0.96), respectively (p < 0.001). Also, performing exercise any time before or after AF diagnosis was associated with a lower risk of mortality compared to persistent non-exercising: the HR (95% CI) was 0.82 (0.73-0.91) for new exercisers, 0.83 (0.74-0.93) for exercise dropouts, and 0.61 (0.55-0.67) for exercise maintainers (p < 0.001). For ischemic stroke, the estimates of HRs were 10%-14% lower in patients of the exercise groups, yet differences were statistically insignificant (p = 0.057). Energy expenditure of 1,000-1,499 MET-min/wk (regular moderate exercise 170-240 min/wk) was consistently associated with a lower risk of each outcome based on a subgroup analysis of the new exerciser group. Study limitations include recall bias introduced due to the nature of the self-reported questionnaire and restricted external generalizability to other ethnic groups.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Initiating or continuing regular exercise after AF diagnosis was associated with lower risks of HF and mortality. The promotion of exercise might reduce the future risk of adverse outcomes in patients with AF.https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003659&type=printable
spellingShingle Hyo-Jeong Ahn
So-Ryoung Lee
Eue-Keun Choi
Kyung-Do Han
Jin-Hyung Jung
Jae-Hyun Lim
Jun-Pil Yun
Soonil Kwon
Seil Oh
Gregory Y H Lip
Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
PLoS Medicine
title Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
title_full Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
title_fullStr Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
title_full_unstemmed Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
title_short Association between exercise habits and stroke, heart failure, and mortality in Korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation: A nationwide population-based cohort study.
title_sort association between exercise habits and stroke heart failure and mortality in korean patients with incident atrial fibrillation a nationwide population based cohort study
url https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003659&type=printable
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