# Noncommunicable diseases attributed to low levels of physical activity in Brazil: an epidemiologic Global Burden of Disease Study

## TL;DR

This study estimates how many deaths in Brazil in 2019 were linked to low physical activity and noncommunicable diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

## Contribution

The study provides region-specific mortality estimates in Brazil due to low physical activity for noncommunicable diseases.

## Key findings

- Mortality from noncommunicable diseases due to low physical activity was 293.39 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in Brazil in 2019.
- Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of mortality linked to low physical activity.
- Maranhão had the highest mortality rate (407.98 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants), while Distrito Federal and Minas Gerais had the lowest.

## Abstract

The aim of the study was to present estimates of mortality from noncommunicable diseases attributable to low physical activity in Brazil in 2019.

An epidemiologic and descriptive study. We retrieved the data during the month of September 2023. Two independent researchers accessed the indicators in the Global Burden of Disease database: (i) number of cases and (ii) mortality from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases, and neoplasms, and (iii) level of physical activity in Brazilian individuals for the year 2019. Data were extracted by two researchers independently for the states of Brazil, stratified by sex (male and female), age groups (15–49 years, 50–69 years, and 70 or more years), cause of death and corresponding mortality (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and kidney diseases, and neoplasms) and classified by regions according to geographic and administrative distribution in North, Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central-West. The number of deaths, age-standardized mortality, and years of life lost due to the disease were extracted, gross and in rates per 100,000 inhabitants.

Mortality from noncommunicable diseases associated with low levels of physical activity in Brazil in 2019 was 293.39 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, highest in Maranhão, with 407.98 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, and lowest in the Distrito Federal and Minas Gerais, respectively.

Cardiovascular disease was the most prominent risk factor among the results of this study.