Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan, GIH

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a public health emergency of international concern, which may have affected lifestyle habits and mental health. Based on national health profile assessments, this study investigated perceived changes of lifestyle habits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associations between perceived lifestyle changes and mental health in Swedish working adults. Among 5599 individuals (50% women, 46.3 years), the majority reported no change (sitting 77%, daily physical activity 71%, exercise 69%, diet 87%, alcohol 90%, and smoking 97%) due to the pandemic. Changes were more pronounced during the first wave (April–June) compared to the second (October–December). Women, individuals <60 years, those with a university degree, white-collar workers, and those with unhealthy lifestyle habits at baseline had higher odds of changing lifestyle habits compared to their counterparts. Negative changes in lifestyle habits and more time in a mentally passive state sitting at home were associated with higher odds of mental ill-health (including health anxiety regarding one’s own and relatives’ health, generalized anxiety and depression symptoms, and concerns regarding employment and economy). The results emphasize the need to support healthy lifestyle habits to strengthen the resilience in vulnerable groups of individuals to future viral pandemics and prevent health inequalities in society.

Guidelines highlight the importance of physical activity (PA) in secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) within the healthcare sector. Previous studies have mainly focused on the effects of PA at moderate-vigorous intensity performed within exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (CR). However, only a minority of patients with CVD participate in exercise-based CR, and it is not known to what extent the guidelines for PA are implemented in clinical work. This leads to a knowledge gap in PA levels among patients with CVD, and the potential association of PA with hospital care utilisation and all-cause mortality. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate PA and its importance for patients with CVD, and to what extent it is promoted during clinical work. The associations between self-rated PA level, changes in self-rated PA level, and sedentary time (SED) with hospital care utilisation and all-cause mortality were explored in three cohort studies (Studies I-III). Data were collected via questionnaires, medical records and national registers. Study I explored everyday PA, physical exercise and SED among patients with CVD (n=1148) prior to admittance to a cardiac ward at two of the hospitals in Stockholm. Studies II and III explored PA (of at least moderate intensity) post hospitalisation, and included 30 644 and 22 227 patients with myocardial infarction (MI), respectively, from the national SWEDHEART registry. Finally, in Study IV, healthcare professionals’ (n=251) stated importance and clinical work to promote healthy lifestyle habits (alcohol consumption, eating habits, physical activity, and smoking) were explored in a cross-sectional study. All healthcare professionals working on cardiac departments in two hospitals in Stockholm were included.

The main findings were:

• PA level (everyday PA, physical exercise, total PA level) and SED pre and post hospitalisation for cardiac events were found to be significant predictors of hospital care duration, readmission and mortality. The effects of high PA level and low SED did not differ between CVD diagnosis, sex, age, or comorbid states such as individuals with and without diabetes mellitus type II, kidney dysfunction, hypertension or dyslipidaemia.

• There were no differences between individuals reporting a moderate or high level of PA or a medium or low level of SED, illustrating that “a little activity is better than nothing” and that the greatest health benefits would be achieved by increasing PA among the most inactive patients with CVD.

• Changes in PA level during the first year post MI are important. Increased PA lowered the risk of mortality, and decreased PA increased the risk of mortality in patients post MI.

• Healthcare professionals considered it important to promote lifestyle habits among patients within the healthcare sector in general, as well as in their own clinical work. However, there was a difference between stated importance and clinical practice as only a minority of healthcare professionals asked or provided counselling on healthy lifestyle habits. Our results indicated a relationship between promoting patients’ lifestyle habits in clinical work, and if they perceived clear organisational routines and objectives.

In conclusion, the results of this thesis have a clinical impact. Firstly, asking patients on a cardiac department about their PA level and SED may identify individuals in need of behavioural changes. By identifying and supporting individuals who need to increase their PA level, clinicians may potentially decrease the utilisation of inpatient care and also lower the risk of all-cause mortality among individuals with a CVD diagnosis. Secondly, this information is of great predictive value, and PA can be seen as an additional marker of disease severity.

The objective of this study was to explore the stated importance of promoting healthy lifestyle habits (alcohol, eating habits, physical activity and tobacco) by healthcare professionals, and to what extent these attitudes were translated into clinical work. In 2014, healthcare professionals (n = 251) from cardiology departments in two hospitals in Stockholm, Sweden, participated in a cross-sectional descriptive questionnaire-based survey. The questionnaire included topics regarding stated importance and clinical work undertaken to promote healthy lifestyle habits. Personal and organisational factors of potential importance, expectations and future work were also explored. To analyse differences in stated importance and clinical work within and between lifestyle factors, comparisons of proportions were performed with 99% confidence intervals (CI). Relationships between stated importance and clinical work were investigated using logistic regression. The majority of healthcare professionals stated that it was 'very important' to promote healthy lifestyle habits among patients in general (69%-94%) and in their own clinical work (63%-80%). Despite this, always asking questions (18%-41%) or providing counselling (11%-23%) regarding lifestyle habits was reported to be rare. Overall, tobacco cessation was considered the most important behavioural change and was more often included in clinical work compared to promoting physical activity, healthy eating habits and limiting alcohol use. Clinical work was mainly influenced by to what extent the healthcare professional perceived clear organisational routines and objectives. In conclusion, we observed a gap between stated importance and clinical work in the promotion of healthy lifestyle habits among healthcare professionals. There were differences between lifestyle factors, indicating that work with tobacco cessation is the most established. Our results suggest that in order to promote patients' lifestyle habits in line with evidence-based guidelines, healthcare management should focus on and improve organisational routines and objectives.

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) and smoking cessation are included in the secondary prevention guidelines after myocardial infarction (MI), but they are still underutilised. This study aims to explore how PA level and smoking status (6-10 weeks post-MI) were associated with 1-year readmission and mortality during full follow-up time, and with the cumulative 5-year mortality.

METHODS: A population-based cohort of all hospitals providing MI-care in Sweden (SWEDEHEART-registry) in 2004-2014. PA was expressed as the number of exercise sessions of ≥ 30 min in the last 7 days: 0-1 (low), 2-4 (medium) and 5-7 (high) sessions/week. Individuals were categorised as smokers, former smokers or never-smokers. The associations were analysed by unadjusted and adjusted logistic and Cox regressions.

RESULTS: During follow-up (M = 3.58 years), a total of 1702 deaths occurred among 30 644 individuals (14.1 cases per 1000 person-years). For medium and high PA, the hazard ratios (HRs) for mortality were 0.39 and 0.36, respectively, compared with low PA. For never-smokers, the HR was 0.45 and former smokers 0.56 compared with smokers. Compared with low PA, the odds ratios (ORs) for readmission in medium PA were 0.65 and 0.59 for CVD and non-CVD causes, respectively. For high PA, the corresponding ORs were 0.63 and 0.55. The association remained in adjusted models. There were no associations between smoking status and readmission.

CONCLUSIONS: The PA level and smoking status are strong predictors of mortality post-MI and the PA level also predicts readmission, highlighting the importance of adherence to the secondary prevention guidelines.

Background/Introduction: There is little knowledge of the association between physical activity (PA) level and the mortality risk post myocardial infarction (MI). Steffen/Batey et al (2000), concluded in a smaller study, that individuals who remained active or increased their level of PA after MI had a lower risk of death. However, in order to confirm this and adjust for confounders larger studies are needed.

Purpose: Explore any association between PA level after MI and all-cause mortality during follow-up in a large MI-cohort.

Methods: A national cohort study including all patients <75 years of age, with a diagnosis of MI between 1991-2014 (Swedish MI register SWEDEHEART). From the register self-reported PA, 6-10 weeks post MI, (i.e. number of sessions during the past seven days with moderate and/or vigorous PA lasting ≥30 minutes) was obtained. The answers were grouped into 0-1 sessions (inactive), 2-4 sessions (moderately active) and 5-7 sessions (regularly active). Associations were first assessed unadjusted, stratified by potential confounders (sex, age, smoking status, ejection fraction, ST-elevation and quality of life). Thereafter, a multiple logistic regression was performed to control for possible confounders.

Results: Complete data was obtained from 37 655 individuals (median 63 years, 74 % men). A total of 2512 deaths occurred during a mean of 4.1 years of follow-up. The mortality rate was 17.0 cases/1000 person-years. Moderate and regular activity, was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality (OR 0,356 95 %, CI 0,320-0,396 and OR 0,334, 95 % CI 0,305-0,366) compared to being physically inactive. The OR´s remained largely unchanged when stratifying for age, sex, NSTEM/STEMI and ejection fraction. However, active smokers had a lower OR, for subsequent death, as had patients with a low EQ5D. The associations persisted in the multiple logistic regression, after adjustment for confounders (Figure 1).

Conclusion(s): A higher level of physical activity seems to be associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. These results suggest that physical activity assessment is important post MI, not least as an important predictor.

Background: There is little knowledge of the association between physical activity (PA) level and the mortality risk post myocardial infarction (MI). Steffen/Batey et al (2000), concluded in a smaller study, that individuals who remained active or increased their level of PA post-MI had a lower risk of death. This study aimed to explore any association between PA level post-MI and all-cause mortality during follow-up in a large MI-cohort.

Methods: A national cohort study including patients <75 years of age, with a diagnosis of MI between 2005-2014 (SWEDEHEART, SEPHIA-register). Self-reported PA, 6-10 weeks post-MI, (i.e. number of sessions during the past seven days with moderate and/or vigorous PA lasting ≥30 minutes) was obtained. The answers were grouped into 0-1 sessions (inactive), 2-4 sessions (moderately active) and 5-7 sessions (regularly active). First, stratified unadjusted associations were investigated. Thereafter, a multiple logistic regression was performed to control for possible confounders.

Results: Complete data was obtained from 37 655 individuals (median age 63 years, 74 % men). A total of 2512 deaths occurred during a mean of 4.1 years of follow-up. The mortality rate was 17.0 cases/1000 person-years. Moderate and regular activity, was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality (OR 0.36, 95 % CI: 0.32-0.40 and OR 0.33, 95 % CI: 0.31-0.37) compared to being physically inactive. The OR´s remained largely unchanged when stratifying for age, gender, NSTEM/STEMI and ejection fraction. However, compared to inactive patients, physically active smokers and patients with ≤ 0.85 Eq5D had a higher OR, for subsequent death. The associations persisted in the multiple logistic regression, after adjustment for confounders (Figure 1).

Conclusions: A higher level of PA, post-MI was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. These results suggest that PA assessment is important post-MI, not least as an important predictor for risk of death.

Introduction

Insufficient physical activity is a considerable risk factor for mortality and premature death. The healthcare has a unique role in health promotion as they reach a large part of the population. The evidence based recommendation is that the healthcare sector should offer “counseling with the adjunct of exercise on prescription or a pedometer, as well as special follow-up” to promote patients physical activity. Despite this, physical activity is underutilized in prevention and treatment of disease, for reasons not fully known.

Purpose/Method

We aimed to study the attitudes of different healthcare professionals in the hospital setting, towards the importance of physical activity and its clinical use at different levels.

The study comprised 264 (78% women) health care professionals at the cardiac department/outpatient cardiac center in Stockholm (response rate 91%). Data was obtained in 2013, by questionnaire. Containing 28 multiple choice questions on participants attitudes towards physical activity behavior change, the perceived importance of such measures, practical implementation and possible barriers for implementation.

Results

All participants stated importance of physical activity promotion within healthcare. Forty-seven percent reported that they promoted physical activity in clinical practice, however only a minority fulfilled the evidence based recommendations (n=65), as brief advice (n=165) or counseling (n=111) were most common. Sixty-one percent aimed to improve the use of physical activity promotion, factors hampering were inadequate knowledge, follow-up possibilities and length of patient visits. Less than half group reported insufficient routines (46%), goals (37%) and lack of management support (42%).

Conclusion         

Although health professionals generally are positive towards promoting physical activity, just a small proportion actually use the evidence based methods in clinical practice. To improve the promotion of physical activity in patients there is need for further implementation strategies at all levels to create a well-functioning structure, clear goals and routines. Our study suggests, that implementation should focus at education, logistics for follow-up and increased amount of time with direct patient care. 

BACKGROUND: In prevention, sedentary behaviour and physical activity have been associated with risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. Less is known about associations with utilization of hospital care.

AIM: To investigate whether physical activity level and sedentary behaviour prior to cardiac ward admission can predict utilization of hospital care and mortality among patients with cardiovascular disease.

METHODS: Longitudinal observational study including 1148 patients admitted and treated in cardiac wards in two hospitals. Subjective reports of physical activity levels and sedentary time prior to admission were collected during inpatient care and categorized as low, medium or high. The associations between physical activity level and sedentary time with hospital stay, readmission and mortality were analysed using linear, logistic and Cox regressions.

RESULTS: Median hospital stay was 2.1 days. One higher step in the physical activity level, or lower sedentary time, was related to an approximately 0.9 days shorter hospital stay. Sixty per cent of patients were readmitted to hospital. The risk of being readmitted was lower for individuals reporting high physical activity and low sedentary time (odds ratios ranging between 0.44 and 0.91). A total of 200 deaths occurred during the study. Mortality was lower among those with high and medium physical activity levels and low sedentary time (hazard ratios ranging between 0.36 and 0.90).

CONCLUSION: Both physical activity level and sedentary time during the period preceding hospitalization for cardiac events were predictors of hospital utilization and mortality. This highlights the prognostic value of assessing patients' physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

BACKGROUND: The impact of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and other lifestyle-related factors on severe COVID-19 risk is understudied. The present study aims to investigate lifestyle-related and socioeconomic factors as possible predictors of COVID-19, with special focus on CRF, and to further study whether these factors may attenuate obesity- and hypertension-related risks, as well as mediate associations between socioeconomic factors and severe COVID-19 risk.

METHODS: Out of initially 407,131 participants who participated in nationwide occupational health service screening between 1992 and 2020, n = 857 cases (70% men, mean age 49.9 years) of severe COVID-19 were identified. CRF was estimated using a sub-maximum cycle test, and other lifestyle variables were self-reported. Analyses were performed including both unmatched, n = 278,598, and sex-and age-matched, n = 3426, controls. Severe COVID-19 included hospitalization, intensive care or death due to COVID-19.

RESULTS: Patients with more severe COVID-19 had significantly lower CRF, higher BMI, a greater presence of comorbidities and were more often daily smokers. In matched analyses, there was a graded decrease in odds for severe COVID-19 with each ml in CRF (OR = 0.98, 95% CI 0.970 to 0.998), and a two-fold increase in odds between the lowest and highest (< 32 vs. ≥ 46 ml·min^-1·kg^-1) CRF group. Higher BMI (per unit increase, OR = 1.09, 1.06 to 1.12), larger waist circumference (per cm, OR = 1.04, 1.02 to 1.06), daily smoking (OR = 0.60, 0.41 to 0.89) and high overall stress (OR = 1.36, 1.001 to 1.84) also remained significantly associated with severe COVID-19 risk. Obesity- and blood pressure-related risks were attenuated by adjustment for CRF and lifestyle variables. Mediation through CRF, BMI and smoking accounted for 9% to 54% of the associations between low education, low income and blue collar/low skilled occupations and severe COVID-19 risk. The results were consistent using either matched or unmatched controls.

CONCLUSIONS: Both lifestyle-related and socioeconomic factors were associated with risk of severe COVID-19. However, higher CRF attenuated the risk associated with obesity and high blood pressure, and mediated the risk associated with various socioeconomic factors. This emphasises the importance of interventions to maintain or increase CRF in the general population to strengthen the resilience to severe COVID-19, especially in high-risk individuals.

AIMS: Participation in exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (exCR) increases aerobic capacity and improves outcomes in patients following myocardial infarction (MI) and is therefore universally recommended. While meta-analyses consistently report that participation in exCR reduces cardiovascular mortality, there are conflicting results regarding effects on total mortality. Presently, many eligible patients do not receive exCR in clinical practice. We aimed to investigate the relation between participation in exCR post-MI and total mortality in men and women in a nationwide real-world cohort from the SWEDEHEART registry.

DESIGN: Longitudinal, observational cohort study.

METHODS AND RESULTS: In total, 20 895 patients from the SWEDEHEART registry were included. Mortality data were obtained from the Swedish National Population Registry. During a mean of 4.55 (±2.33) years of follow-up, 1000 patients died. Using Cox regression for proportional odds and taking a wide range of potential confounders into consideration, participation in exCR was related to significantly lower total mortality [hazard ratio (HR) 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.62-0.83]. Excluding patients with shorter follow-up than 2 years did not alter the results. Exercise-based CR participation was related to lowered total mortality in most of the investigated subgroups. The risk reduction was more pronounced in women than in men (HR 0.54 vs. 0.81, respectively).

CONCLUSION: Participation in exCR was associated with reduced total mortality, and more pronounced in women, compared with men. Our results further support the recommendations to participate in exCR, and hence we argue that exCR should be a mandatory part of comprehensive CR programmes, offered to all patients post-MI.

Background

With increasing survival rates among patients with myocardial infarction (MI), more demands are placed on secondary prevention. While physical activity (PA) efforts to obtain a sufficient PA level are part of secondary preventive recommendations, it is still underutilized. Importantly, the effect of changes in PA after MI is largely unknown. Therefore, we sought to investigate the effect on survival from changes in PA level, post‐MI.

Methods and Results

Data from Swedish national registries were combined, totaling 22 227 patients with MI. PA level was self‐reported at 6 to 10 weeks post‐MI and 10 to 12 months post‐MI. Patients were classified as constantly inactive, increased activity, reduced activity, and constantly active. Proportional hazard ratios were calculated. During 100 502 person‐years of follow‐up (mean follow‐up time 4.2 years), a total of 1087 deaths were recorded. Controlling for important confounders (including left ventricular function, type of MI, medication, smoking, participation in cardiac rehabilitation program, quality of life, and estimated kidney function), we found lower mortality rates among constantly active (hazard ratio: 0.29, 95% confidence interval: 0.21–0.41), those with increased activity (0.41, 95% confidence interval: 0.31–0.55), and those with reduced activity (hazard ratio: 0.56, 95% confidence interval: 0.45–0.69) during the first year post‐MI, compared with those being constantly inactive. Stratified analyses indicated strong effect of PA level among both sexes, across age, MI type, kidney function, medication, and smoking status.

Conclusions

The present article shows that increasing the PA level, compared with staying inactive the first year post‐MI, was related to reduced mortality.

Background The majority of patients survive the acute phase of myocardial infarction (MI) but have an increased risk of recurrent cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. To be regularly physically active or change activity level is associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. The objective was to explore to what extent physical activity (PA) levels or change in PA levels during the first year post-MI was associated with any recurrent nonfatal CVD events and specific CVD events (eg, MI, ischemic stroke, and vascular dementia). Methods and Results This cohort study among MI survivors was based on Swedish national registries between 2005 and 2020. PA levels were self-rated at 2 and 12 months post-MI, and patients were classified into remaining physically inactive, increasing, decreasing, or remaining active. A total of 6534 nonfatal CVD events occurred during 6 years of follow-up among the 47 153 included patients. In fully adjusted analyses, the risk of any nonfatal CVD event was lower (P<0.05) among patients remaining active (37%), increasing (22%), or decreasing (18%) PA level compared with remaining inactive. Compared with remaining inactive, the risk of recurring MI and stroke was lower (P>0.05) among remaining active (41% versus 52%, respectively), increasing (20% versus 35%, respectively), or decreasing PA level (24% versus 34%, respectively). For vascular dementia, patients remaining physically active had an 80% lower risk compared with remaining inactive (P<0.05). Conclusions Remaining physically active or change in PA levels during the first year post-MI was associated with a lower risk of recurrent nonfatal CVD events. This emphasizes the importance of supporting patients to continue to be or become physically active.

OBJECTIVES: To elucidate physical activity in the first year after myocardial infarction (MI), and to explore differences in various subgroups, delineated by age, participation in exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation (exCR), or restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic. Secondly, to explore associations between changes in physical activity variables with blood pressure and lipid levels.

METHODS: A longitudinal study in 2017-2023. Physical activity variables were assessed via accelerometers at two- and twelve months post-MI. The intensity was divided into, sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous-intensity physical activity, according to established cut-offs. Blood pressure and lipids were measured by standardized procedures at the same time points.

RESULTS: There were 178 patients included at baseline, 81% male, mean age of 64 (9 SD) years. Patients spent 72% of their time sedentary, followed by light (19%), moderate (8%), and vigorous physical activity (1%). Patients included during covid-19 restrictions and younger patients had a higher level of moderate-intensity physical activity compared to patients included during non-pandemic restrictions and older patients. At 12-month follow-up, patients overall increased time (1%) in sedentary behavior (p = 0.03) and decreased time (0.6%) in moderate-intensity physical activity (p = 0.04), regardless of participation in exCR or age. There was a positive association between the change in mean physical activity intensity and HDL-cholesterol (p = 0.047).

CONCLUSIONS: Participants had a low fraction of time in moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity two months post-MI, which deteriorated during the first year. This emphasizes the need for improved implementation of evidence-based interventions to support and motivate patients to perform regular physical activity.

BACKGROUND: Healthy lifestyle habits are recommended in prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is limited knowledge concerning the change in lifestyle-related factors from before to after a CVD event. Thus, this study aimed to explore if and how lifestyle habits and other lifestyle-related factors changed between two health assessments in individuals experiencing a CVD event between the assessments, and if changes varied between subgroups of sex, age, educational level, duration from CVD event to second assessment and type of CVD event.

METHODS: Among 115,504 Swedish employees with data from two assessments of occupational health screenings between 1992 and 2020, a total of 637 individuals (74% men, mean age 47 ± SD 9 years) were identified having had a CVD event (ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrythmia or stroke) between the assessments. Cases were matched with controls without an event between assessments from the same database (ratio 1:3, matching with replacement) by sex, age, and time between assessment (n = 1911 controls). Lifestyle habits included smoking, active commuting, exercise, diet, alcohol intake, and were self-rated. Lifestyle-related factors included overall stress, overall health (both self-rated), physical capacity (estimated by submaximal cycling), body mass index and resting blood pressure. Differences in lifestyle habits and lifestyle-related factors between cases and controls, and changes over time, were analysed with parametric and non-parametric tests. Multiple logistic regression, OR (95% CI) was used to analyse differences in change between subgroups.

RESULTS: Cases had, in general, a higher prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle habits as well as negative life-style related factors prior to the event compared to controls. Nevertheless, cases improved their lifestyle habits and lifestyle factors to a higher degree than controls, especially their amount of active commuting (p = 0.025), exercise (p = 0.009) and non-smoking (p < 0.001). However, BMI and overall health deteriorated to a greater extent (p < 0.001) among cases, while physical capacity (p < 0.001) decreased in both groups.

CONCLUSION: The results indicate that a CVD event may increase motivation to improve lifestyle habits. Nonetheless, the prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle habits was still high, emphasizing the need to improve implementation of primary and secondary CVD prevention.

BACKGROUND: Guidelines recommend regular physical activity (PA) and decreased sedentary time (SED) for patients after myocardial infarction (MI). Therefore, valid self-assessment of PA is vital in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to assess the convergent validity of commonly used PA and SED questions recommended by the National Board of Health and welfare (NBHW) and national SWEDEHEART-registry using accelerometers as the reference method in patients after MI.

METHODS: Data were obtained 2017-2021 among Swedish men and women (180 assessments). Participants answered five commonly used PA and SED-questions (by NBHW and SWEDEHEART) and wore an accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X) for seven days. Convergent validity was assessed gradually by; Kruskall Wallis-, Sperman rho, Weighted Kappa- and ROC-analyses. Misclassification was explored by Chi-square analyses with Benjamini-Hochberg adjustment.

RESULTS: The strongest correlation (r = 0.37) was found for the SED-GIH question (NBHW). For PA, no specific question stood out, with correlations of r = 0.31 (NBWH), and r = 0.24-0.30 (SWEDEHEART). For all questions (NBHW and SWEDEHEART), there was a high degree of misclassification (congruency 12-30%) affecting the agreement (0.09-0.32) between self-report and accelerometer assessed time. The SED-GIH, PA-index and SWEDEHEART-VPA had the strongest sensitivity for identifying individuals with high SED (0.72) or low PA (0.77 and 0.75).

CONCLUSION: The studied PA and SED questions may provide an indication of PA and SED level among patients with MI in clinical practice and could be used to form a basis for further dialogue and assessment. Further development is needed, since practical assessment tools of PA and SED are desirable.