Leisure Activities and All-Cause Mortality Among the Chinese Oldest-Old Population: A Prospective Community-Based Cohort Study.
Zhi-Hao Li, Xi-Ru Zhang, Yue-Bin Lv and 9 others
PMID 31588027WHAT IT FOUND
In 30,070 Chinese adults aged 80+, more frequent leisure activities were linked with lower risk of death.
More activities showed lower risk. Observational, so it cannot prove leisure extends life.
Key findings
01In fully adjusted models, almost every-day participation in watching TV or listening to the radio, playing cards or mah-jong, reading newspapers or books, gardening, keeping domestic animals or pets, and attending religious activities was associated with lower mortality compared with never participating.
02A greater number of leisure activities was associated with lower all-cause mortality.
03Sensitivity analyses excluding deaths in the first two years did not materially change the associations.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
This is an observational cohort, so it cannot show that leisure activities caused lower mortality. People who were healthier, less impaired or less depressed may have been more likely to engage in leisure activities, and the study cannot fully rule this out. Leisure activity was reported as frequency only, with no information on duration, intensity or energy expenditure. Only six activities were assessed, so other meaningful activities were not captured. The sample was Chinese oldest-old individuals, so results may not apply to other populations. Reverse causation is possible because frailty or dying may reduce activity, although excluding deaths in the first two years did not materially change results.
Declared interests
No conflicts-of-interest or funding declaration is included in the supplied text; the metadata lists NIH and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the lower risk numbers as proof that telling patients to take up leisure activities will extend life. This was an observational cohort, not a treatment trial, and healthier or less impaired people may have engaged in more activities.