Journal article

Publication year: 2020

Pages: 283-287

Journal: Heart rhythm O2

Volume number: 1

Issue number: 4

ISSN: 2666-5018

Open access status: Gold

DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hroo.2020.06.004

Publisher: Elsevier

Abstract: 
BACKGROUND Heightened risk of cardiac arrest following physical exertion has been reported. Among patients with an implantable defibrillator, an appropriate shock for sustained ventricular arrhythmia was preceded by a retrospective self-report of engaging in mild-to-moderate physical activity. Previous studies evaluating the relationship between activity and sudden cardiac arrest lacked an objective measure of physical activity and women were often underrepresented. OBJECTIVE To determine the relationship between physical activity, recorded by accelerometer in a wearable cardioverterdefibrillator (WCD), and sustained ventricular arrhythmia among female patients. METHODS A dataset of female adult patients prescribed a WCD for a diagnosis of myocardial infarction or dilated cardiomyopathy was compiled from a commercial database. Curve estimation, to include linear and nonlinear interpolation, was applied to physical activity as a function of time (days before arrhythmia). RESULTS Among women who received an appropriate WCD shock for sustained ventricular arrhythmia (N = 120), a quadratic relationship between time and activity was present prior to shock. Physical activity increased starting at the beginning of the 30-day period up until day -16 (16 days before the ventricular arrhythmia) when activity begins to decline. CONCLUSION For patients who received treatment for sustained ventricular arrhythmia, a decline in physical activity was found during the 2 weeks preceding the arrhythmic event. Device monitoring for a sustained decline in physical activity may be useful to identify patients at near-term risk of a cardiac arrest.

Harvard Citation style: Burch, A., Erath, J., Kutyifa, V., Assmus, B., Bonderman, D. and Russo, A. (2020) Decline in physical activity in the weeks preceding sustained ventricular arrhythmia in women, Heart rhythm O2, 1(4), pp. 283-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hroo.2020.06.004

APA Citation style: Burch, A., Erath, J., Kutyifa, V., Assmus, B., Bonderman, D., & Russo, A. (2020). Decline in physical activity in the weeks preceding sustained ventricular arrhythmia in women. Heart rhythm O2. 1(4), 283-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hroo.2020.06.004