Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
PLoS One. 2013 May 7;8(5):e61529. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061529. Print 2013.
Leisure time physical activity has been extensively studied. However, the health benefits of non-leisure time physical activity, particular those undertaken at home on all-cause and cancer mortality are limited, particularly among the elderly.
We studied physical activity in relation to all-cause and cancer mortality in a cohort of 4,000 community-dwelling elderly aged 65 and older. Leisure time physical activity (sport/recreational activity and lawn work/yard care/gardening) and non-leisure time physical activity (housework, home repairs and caring for another person) were self-reported on the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly. Subjects with heart diseases, stroke, cancer or diabetes at baseline were excluded (n = 1,133).
Among the 2,867 subjects with a mean age of 72 years at baseline, 452 died from all-cause and 185 died from cancer during the follow-up period (2001-2012). With the adjustment for age, education level and lifestyle factors, we found an inverse association between risk of all-cause mortality and heavy housework among men, with the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.72 (95%CI = 0.57-0.92). Further adjustment for BMI, frailty index, living arrangement, and leisure time activity did not change the result (HR = 0.71, 95%CI = 0.56-0.91). Among women, however, heavy housework was not associated with all-cause mortality. The risk of cancer mortality was significantly lower among men who participated in heavy housework (HR = 0.52, 95%CI = 0.35-0.78), whereas among women the risk was not significant. Men participated in light housework also were at lower risk of cancer mortality than were their counterparts, however, the association was not significant. Leisure time physical activity was not related to all-cause or cancer mortality in either men or women.
Heavy housework is associated with reduced mortality and cancer deaths over a 9-year period. The underlying mechanism needs further study.
休闲时间体力活动已得到广泛研究。然而，非休闲时间体力活动的健康益处，特别是在家中进行的全因和癌症死亡率方面的益处有限，尤其是在老年人中。
我们研究了 4000 名 65 岁及以上社区居住的老年人队列中与全因和癌症死亡率相关的体力活动。休闲时间体力活动（运动/娱乐活动和草坪工作/庭院护理/园艺）和非休闲时间体力活动（家务劳动、家庭维修和照顾他人）由老年人体力活动量表自我报告。在基线时患有心脏病、中风、癌症或糖尿病的受试者被排除在外（n=1133）。
在 2867 名平均年龄为 72 岁的受试者中，在随访期间（2001-2012 年）有 452 人死于全因，185 人死于癌症。在调整年龄、教育水平和生活方式因素后，我们发现男性全因死亡率与重度家务劳动之间存在负相关，调整后的危险比（HR）为 0.72（95%CI=0.57-0.92）。进一步调整 BMI、虚弱指数、居住安排和休闲时间活动并未改变结果（HR=0.71，95%CI=0.56-0.91）。然而，对于女性，重度家务劳动与全因死亡率无关。参与重度家务劳动的男性患癌症死亡率显著降低（HR=0.52，95%CI=0.35-0.78），而女性则无显著差异。与不参与家务劳动的女性相比，参与轻度家务劳动的男性患癌症死亡率也较低，但这种关联没有统计学意义。男性和女性的休闲时间体力活动与全因或癌症死亡率均无关。
重度家务劳动与 9 年内的死亡率和癌症死亡风险降低有关。其潜在机制需要进一步研究。
