Association between Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines and Mortality in Korean Adults: An 8-year Prospective Study

[PURPOSE]: Although previous studies have investigated the association between physical activity and various health outcomes, limited information is available on the effect of meeting new governmental guidelines for physical activity on the risk of mortality in Korean adults. This study aimed to examine the prospective association between meeting these guidelines and all-cause mortality during an 8-year follow-up using a large nationwide sample of middle-aged and older adults in Korea. [METHODS]: This prospective study was conducted based on the Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing. The study participants included 9,177 adults aged 45 years or older at baseline, and all participants were monitored in a 2-year cycle during an 8-year period (70,873 person-years). The risk of mortality was analyzed by determining physical activity levels using the Cox proportional hazard models, and the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using Cox models. [RESULTS]: A statistically significant effect of physical activity on the reduced risk of mortality was observed in cases in which the participants met the guidelines compared to the inactive group (HR: 0.68, 95% CI: 0.58–0.81 vs. the inactive group). A strong association between meeting the recommended physical activity levels and the reduced risk of mortality was also found for non-smokers (HR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.51–0.76 vs. the inactive group), but not for current smokers (HR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.67–1.29 vs. the inactive group). [CONCLUSION]: Meeting physical activity guidelines was associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality for Korean adults. Our results also suggest that smoking reduces the protective effect of physical activity on the risk of mortality.