Is a sedentary lifestyle an independent predictor for hospital and early mortality after elective cardiac surgery?

Objective: This study evaluates whether a sedentary lifestyle is an independent predictor for increased mortality after elective cardiac surgery.

Methods: Three thousand one hundred fifty patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery between January 2007 and June 2012 completed preoperatively the Corpus Christi Heart Project questionnaire concerning physical activity (PA). Based on this questionnaire, 1815 patients were classified as active and 1335 patients were classified as sedentary.