HealthDay News — Television viewing, but not computer or driving time, is associated with all-cause mortality, according to researchers.
“Adults in the United States spend more than half of their waking hours in sedentary pursuits, such as television viewing, computer use, or driving,” wrote Francisco Javier Basterra-Gortari, MD, PhD, of the University of Navarra in Spain, and colleagues. Their findings were published in the the Journal of the American Heart Association.
The correlation between different sedentary behaviors and all-cause mortality in a prospective, dynamic cohort study was examined in 13,284 patients (mean age, 37 years), who were followed for a median of 8.2 years. Investigators assessed correlations between sedentary behaviors at baseline (television, computer, and driving time) and all-cause mortality.
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The incidence ratios for all-cause mortality were 1.40 (95% CI; 1.06-1.84) for two hours per day of television, compared with 0.96 (95% CI, 0.79-1.18) for computer use, and 1.14 (95% CI, 0.90-1.44) for driving, after adjustment for age, sex, smoking status, total energy intake, Mediterranean diet adherence, body mass index, and physical activity.
Participants reporting three or more versus less than one hour/day of television viewing had a more than two-fold increase in mortality (IRR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.16-3.57).
“Further cohort studies and trials designed to assess whether reductions in television viewing are able to reduce mortality are warranted,” wrote the authors.
“The lack of association between computer use or time spent driving and mortality needs further confirmation.”
