Exercise and the Risk of Dementia in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation: A Nationwide Population-Based Study

Lim, Jaehyun, Lee, So-Ryoung, Choi, Eue-Keun, Han, Kyung-Do, Jung, Jin-Hyung, Ahn, Hyo-Jeong, Yun, Jun Pil, Kwon, Soonil, Oh, Seil and Lip, Gregory YH ORCID: 0000-0002-7566-1626 (2021) Exercise and the Risk of Dementia in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Atrial Fibrillation: A Nationwide Population-Based Study. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE, 10 (14). 3126-.

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Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>It is unclear whether exercise would reduce dementia in patients with a new diagnosis of atrial fibrillation (AF). Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the association between the change in physical activity (PA) before and after new-onset AF and the risk of incident dementia.<h4>Methods</h4>Using the Korean National Health Insurance Service database, we enrolled a total of 126,555 patients with newly diagnosed AF between 2010 and 2016, who underwent health examinations within two years before and after their diagnosis of AF. The patients were divided into four groups: persistent non-exercisers, exercise starters, exercise quitters, and exercise maintainers.<h4>Results</h4>Based on a total of 396,503 person-years of follow-up, 5943 patients were diagnosed with dementia. Compared to persistent non-exercisers, exercise starters (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.87; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.81-0.94), and exercise maintainers (aHR 0.66; 95% CI 0.61-0.72) showed a lower risk of incident dementia; however, the risk was similar in exercise quitters (aHR 0.98; 95% CI 0.92-1.05) (<i>p</i>-trend < 0.001). There was a J-shaped relationship between the dose of exercise and the risk of dementia, with the risk reduction maximized at 5-6 times per week of moderate-to-vigorous PA among exercise starters.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Patients who initiated or continued regular exercise after diagnosis of AF were associated with a lower risk of dementia than persistent non-exercisers, with no risk reduction associated with exercise cessation. Our findings may provide evidence for the benefit of exercise prescription to patients with new-onset AF to prevent incident dementia regardless of their current exercise status.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	atrial fibrillation, physical activity, dementia, prevention, cohort study, nationwide study
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Life Courses and Medical Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	16 Dec 2021 12:39
Last Modified:	10 Feb 2024 02:58
DOI:	10.3390/jcm10143126
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3145485