BACKGROUND: Although improvements in life expectancy have been attributed in part to the adoption of a more prudent lifestyle, few studies have examined the association of lifestyle with survival, using several lifestyle factors simultaneously, in a healthy elderly population. METHODS: We investigated the association of health related behaviors with mortality in 7989 men aged 65 to 83 years participating in a population-based trial in Perth, Western Australia, by calculating a lifestyle score as a simple tally of how many of eight prudent behaviors each individual followed. RESULTS: Invitations to screening produced a corrected response of 70.5%. Out of a possible score of 8, 46% of men had a score of less than 5. Within 5 years, a total of 703 men (9%) had died from any cause. The hazard ratio in men with a low lifestyle score was 1.3 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-1.5] compared with men with a score of 5 or more. CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle remains an important predictor of mortality even in old age. Survival in older men without a history of cardiovascular disease can potentially be enhanced by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
BACKGROUND: Although improvements in life expectancy have been attributed in part to the adoption of a more prudent lifestyle, few studies have examined the association of lifestyle with survival, using several lifestyle factors simultaneously, in a healthy elderly population. METHODS: We investigated the association of health related behaviors with mortality in 7989 men aged 65 to 83 years participating in a population-based trial in Perth, Western Australia, by calculating a lifestyle score as a simple tally of how many of eight prudent behaviors each individual followed. RESULTS: Invitations to screening produced a corrected response of 70.5%. Out of a possible score of 8, 46% of men had a score of less than 5. Within 5 years, a total of 703 men (9%) had died from any cause. The hazard ratio in men with a low lifestyle score was 1.3 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-1.5] compared with men with a score of 5 or more. CONCLUSIONS: Lifestyle remains an important predictor of mortality even in old age. Survival in older men without a history of cardiovascular disease can potentially be enhanced by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Authors: Seana L Gall; Joan Abbott-Chapman; George C Patton; Terence Dwyer; Alison Venn Journal: BMC Public Health Date: 2010-02-02 Impact factor: 3.295
Authors: Sijmen A Reijneveld; Maroesjka van Nieuwenhuijzen; Mariska Klein Velderman; Theo W G M Paulussen; Marianne Junger Journal: Int J Public Health Date: 2012-02-28 Impact factor: 3.380