Cardiovascular disease and physical activity in adult cancer survivors: a nested, retrospective study from the Atlantic PATH cohort

The study aimed to examine the relationship between cardiovascular disease (cvd) and physical activity (pa) levels in cancer survivors (cs). using a nested, retrospective follow-up design, this study presents the self-reported prevalence of cvd in an atlantic canadian population-based cohort of 1526 cs and 6034 age-sex matched, non-cancer controls ranging from 35 to 69 years of age. univariate and multiple logistic regression models were used to explore the association between cvd and pa. overall, cs were 30% more likely to have ever experienced a cvd event than controls (or = 1.3; 95% ci 1–1.7, p = .07). survivors were also significantly more likely to report having hypertension (or = 1.60; 95% ci 1.03–1.3, p = .02) and diabetes (or = 1.27; 95% ci 1.03–1.16, p = .02). compared to controls, cs were significantly less likely to engage in high levels of pa. for survivors, compared to those who were least physically active, the odds of having a cvd risk factor was 35% lower for those who were moderately active (or = 0.65; 95% ci 0.48–0.88) and 45% lower in the most highly active group (or = 0.55; 95% ci 0.4–0.73). for controls, the odds of having a cvd risk factor was 25% lower for those in the moderately active group (or = 0.75; 95% ci 0.64–0.88) and 30% lower for those in the high active group (or = 0.70; 95% ci 0.6–0.81). low active survivors appear to be at a high risk of cvd-related comorbidity. pa is associated with lower cvd-related comorbidity in cs, suggesting that interventions directed at increasing pa should be implemented to improve long-term health outcomes.