Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Aims: Despite efforts to promote physical activity, the prevalence of physical inactivity continues to rise. Exercise access influences population activity levels, but county-level variation in physical activity and its link to cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality is unclear. We explored the associations between access to exercise opportunities, levels of physical inactivity, and CVD mortality across U.S. counties
Methods: The County Health Rankings and Roadmaps data and CDC WONDER mortality data were integrated. We compared age-adjusted CVD mortality across county-level quartiles of access to exercise opportunities and physical inactivity. Stratification was performed based on age, sex, race, and urbanization. The rate ratio (RR) for CVD mortality was calculated using generalized linear models.
Results: CVD mortality decreased from high to low values of the county-level of physical activity across all demographic subgroups (P<0.001) (Table 1 & Figure 1). Access to exercise opportunities was significantly associated with a reduced risk of CVD mortality (RR, 0.93 [0.91–0.95]), which was most pronounced in relation to acute myocardial infarction (AMI) mortality (RR, 0.80 [0.76–0.85]). The county-level physical inactivity was associated with an increased risk of CVD mortality (RR, 1.16 [1.14–1.17]), especially for ischemic heart disease (IHD) mortality (RR, 1.35 [1.31–1.38]) and AMI mortality (RR, 1.32 [1.25–1.38]) (Figure 2). All demographic subgroups demonstrated similar benefits by improving the county-level indicators of physical activity.
Conclusion: Counties have the potential to make significant strides in preventing CVD and improving the cardiovascular health of their populations by enhancing access to exercise opportunities and reducing physical inactivity.