# It needs more than a myocardial infarction to start exercising: the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus prospective study

## TL;DR

This study finds that patients who experience a heart attack do not significantly change their physical activity levels afterward.

## Contribution

The study uses both self-reported and accelerometer-measured data to assess physical activity changes after a heart attack.

## Key findings

- Self-reported physical activity levels before and after a heart attack showed no significant differences.
- Accelerometer data also showed no significant changes in physical activity levels after a heart attack.
- Healthy controls showed increased sedentary behavior, unlike heart attack patients.

## Abstract

Increased physical activity (PA) is recommended after an acute coronary event to prevent recurrences. Whether patients with acute coronary event actually increase their PA has not been assessed using objective methods such as accelerometer. We aimed to assess the subjectively and objectively measured physical activity (PA) levels of patients before and after an acute coronary event.

Data from the three follow-up surveys of a prospective study conducted in Lausanne, Switzerland. Self-reported PA was assessed by questionnaire in the first (2009–2012) and second (2014–2017) follow-ups. Objective PA was assessed by a wrist-worn accelerometer in the second and third (2018–2021) follow-ups. Participants who developed an acute coronary event between each survey period were considered as eligible. PA levels were compared before and after the event, and changes in PA levels were also compared between participants who developed an acute event with three gender and age-matched healthy controls.

For self-reported PA, data from 43 patients (12 women, 64 ± 9 years) were used. No differences were found for all PA levels expressed in minutes/day before and after the event: moderate PA, median and [interquartile range] 167 [104–250] vs. 153 [109–240]; light PA: 151 [77–259] vs. 166 [126–222], and sedentary behaviour: 513 [450–635] vs. 535 [465–642] minutes/day. Comparison with gender- and age-matched healthy controls showed no differences regarding trends in reported PA. For accelerometer-assessed PA, data from 32 patients (16 women, 66 ± 9 years) were used. No differences were found for all PA levels expressed in minutes/day before and after the event: moderate PA: 159 [113–189] vs. 141 [111–189]; light PA: 95.8 [79–113] vs. 95.9 [79–117], and sedentary behaviour: 610 [545–659] vs. 602 [540–624]. Regarding the comparison with gender- and age-matched healthy controls, controls had an increase in accelerometer-assessed sedentary behaviour as % of day: multivariable adjusted average standard error 2.7 ± 0.6, while no increase was found for cases: 0.1 ± 1.1; no differences were found for the other PA levels.

Patients do not seem to change their PA levels after a first coronary event. Our results should be confirmed in larger samples.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12872-024-03755-9.