Physical activity to prevent stroke mortality in Brazil (1990-2019)

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to estimate the burden of stroke mortality due to low levels of physical activity (PA) in Brazil from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: Data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study for Brazil and Brazilian states were used. We used the number of deaths, age-standardized mortality rates, summary exposure value, and fraction of population risk attributable to low levels of PA. To standardize all estimates, data from the population aged 25 years or older were considered. RESULTS: The risk of exposure to low PA, SEV values, for the Brazilian male population was 11.8% (95%UI: 6.7; 19.9) and for the Brazilian female population was 13.2% (95%UI: 8.6; 19.2) in 2019. For males, it was estimated that there were, respectively, 2,025 (95%UI: 271; 4,839) and 3,595 (95%UI: 658; 7,302) deaths in 1990 and 2019 due to stroke attributable to low PA. For females, there were 2,518 (95%UI: 498; 5,006) and 4,735 (95%UI: 1,286; 8,495) deaths in 1990 and 2019 due to stroke attributable to low PA, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, reductions of 44.0% for males (95%UI: −0.54; -0.05) and 52.0% for females (95%UI: −0.60; -0.30) in age-standardized mortality rates due to stroke attributed to low PA were observed. Approximately 6.1% (for males) and 7.3% (for females) of deaths in 2019 due to stroke could be avoided if the Brazilian population were physically active. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the promotion of PA in all Brazilian states for preventing early mortality due to stroke.