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Key Publications June 18, 2010

Physical activity, the Framingham risk score and risk of coronary heart disease in men and women of the EPIC-Norfolk study.

Atherosclerosis 2010;209:261-5

Arsenault BJ, Rana JS, Lemieux I, Després JP, Wareham NJ, Kastelein JJ, Boekholdt SM, Khaw KT

Description

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether work-related and leisure-time physical activity could influence the relationship between the Framingham risk score and coronary heart disease (CHD) in a large prospective population-based European cohort with an average follow-up period of 11.4 years. Results showed that irrespective of Framingham risk score category, men and women who reported having a sedentary lifestyle were at substantially higher risk of developing CHD compared to active individuals. In addition, the authors reported that adding physical inactivity levels to Framingham risk score could refine CHD risk estimation, particularly in participants classified as intermediate risk by the Framingham risk score. Moreover, they also found that within each Framingham risk score category, the association between physical inactivity and CHD risk appeared to be greater in women than in men. Thus, these results suggest that considering levels of physical activity could provide a more precise classification of patients’ CHD risk beyond commonly used risk algorithms.
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