Association between age and physical activity level with chest pain symptoms and blood pressure in patients with heart diseases

Background: The risk of cardiovascular diseases increases in relation with age and physical inactivity. However, there is limited data about the importance of each factor. Thus, the present study has examined the association of physical activity level (PA) and age with chest pain signs and blood pressures in patients with heart failure. Materials and methods: Totally, 299 patients with heart failure in two age groups of 45-59 years old (middle-aged, N=175) and 60-77 years old (elderly, N=124) were enrolled to the study. Chest pain signs were evaluated by Rose angina questionnaire (chest pain questionnaire, London school of public health) and blood pressure and physical activity levels of the participants were also assessed. Data analysis was performed by partial and Pearson’s correlation coefficient tests. Results: In the middle-aged group, the PA had a significant negative correlation with chest pain signs (p= 0.004, r= -0.221) independent of age, body weight, body mass index (BMI) and abdominal circumference, however the correlation was not significant in the elderly group. There was a positive and significant correlation between the chest pain and age in the elderly group (p=0.020, r=0.212); however, this relationship was not significant for the middle-aged group. There were no significant relations between blood pressure and neither PA nor age in both groups. Conclusion: It seems that the level of physical activity in the 45-59 years old patients is an effective factor to improve chest pain signs in comparison to 60-77 years old.