Abstract
Objectives
To examine 2 modifiable health behaviors—smoking and physical activity—and their relationship
to mortality among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Design
Secondary analysis of Large Health Survey.
Setting
Data were obtained from a linkage of the Veterans Affairs (VA) MS National Data Repository,
containing information on service provision to all individuals with MS receiving health
services within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; the VA 1999 Large Health
Survey, containing information on smoking and physical activity; and the VA Vital
Status File. All-cause mortality was examined for the 15-year period from 1999 through
2013.
Participants
Participants (N=2994) with MS who completed the Large Health Survey containing information
on smoking and physical activity.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measure
Survival.
Results
There were 1500 deaths (50.1%) during the study period. Cox proportional hazard analyses
were conducted to examine the association between smoking and physical activity and
15-year mortality. After adjusting for demographic factors, physical functioning,
mental health, and comorbid medical conditions, baseline smoking was associated with
greater mortality (hazard ratio [HR]=1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.184–1.60).
Higher levels of baseline physical activity were associated with lower mortality (activity
1–2 times/wk: HR=.64; 95% CI, .518–.798; activity ≥3 times/wk: HR=.53; 95% CI, .388–.715).
Conclusions
Results suggest that modifiable health behaviors represent a promising opportunity
for intervention to improve the lives of individuals with MS.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
HR (hazard ratio), LVHS (Large Veteran Health Survey), MCS (Medical Component Summary), MS (multiple sclerosis), PCS (Physical Component Summary), SF-36v (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey–Veterans version), SIC (Seattle Index of Comorbidity), VA (Veterans Affairs)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 06, 2014
Footnotes
Supported by a Veterans Affairs (VA) Rehabilitation Research and Development Service Career Development Award (grant no. B3319VA), the VA Center of Excellence in Substance Abuse Treatment and Education, the VA Multiple Sclerosis Center of Excellence West, VA Office of Quality and Performance, and National Multiple Sclerosis Society (grant no. MB0026).
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
