Impact of physical inactivity on the incidence of stroke, coronary heart disease, and disability free life expectancy among the elderly in Jing'an District, Shanghai

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of physical inactivity among the elderly in Jing'an District during 2002-2011; to quantify the burden of stroke and coronary heart disease attributable to physical inactivity; and to estimate the benefits in disability free life expectancy (DFLE) from reasonable physical activity. Methods To understand the epidemiological characteristics of physical inactivity among the elderly in Jing'an District, through analyzing DFLE data. To obtain relative risk (RR) of stoke and coronary heart disease attributable to physical inactivity, via World Health Organization (WHO) Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA) project. To calculate population attributable fractions (PAFs) using CRA methodology. To estimate the increase of DFLE attributable to physical activity, based on the results of Jing'an District DFLE research. Results From 2002 to 2011, the prevalence of physical inactivity and the incidence of stroke and coronary heart disease associated with physical inactivity among the elderly in Jing'an District presented a downward trend, i.e. incidence of stroke at 13.80% (range 9.16%-21.43%) and that of coronary heart disease at 16.83% (11.19%-26.76%). With the elimination of physical inactivity, DFLE is expected to increase by 0.94 (0.11-2.70) years from stroke and 0.65 (0.11-1.91) years from coronary heart disease. Conclusion Increase of physical activity could reduce the incidence of stroke and coronary heart disease among the elderly, increase DFLE, and gain health benefits.