Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes

Prolonged sedentary behavior post-ACS doubles risk of future cardiac events

May 27, 2025

Reducing sedentary behavior is a potential strategy to improve 1-year outcomes after acute coronary syndrome (ACS) hospitalization. Even modest substitution of sedentary time with sleep or physical activity may confer significant risk reduction for recurrent cardiac events and mortality in this high-risk population.

Study details: This prospective study enrolled 609 patients (mean age 62 years, 52% male, 58% Hispanic) presenting with ACS symptoms to a New York City ED from 2016–2020. Sedentary behavior, light-intensity physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and sleep were objectively measured using wrist accelerometry for 30 days postdischarge. Cardiac events and all-cause mortality were assessed at 1 year.

Results: Mean sedentary time was 13.6 hours/day. At one year, 8.2% experienced a cardiac event or died. Higher sedentary time (tertile 3) was associated with increased risk of cardiac events/mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 2.58, 95% confidence interval, 1.11–6.03; P_trend = 0.011) compared with the lowest tertile. Isotemporal substitution analyses showed that replacing 30 minutes of sedentary time with sleep (HR, 0.86), light-intensity activity (HR, 0.49), or moderate-to-vigorous activity (HR, 0.39) was associated with lower risk.

Source:

Diaz KM, et al. (2025, May 19). Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. Sedentary Behavior and Cardiac Events and Mortality After Hospitalization for Acute Coronary Syndrome Symptoms: A Prospective Study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40384460/