Capsule Commentary on Zhang et al., Combined healthy lifestyle behaviors and disability-free survival: the Ohsaki Cohort 2006 Study

Excerpt

This prospective cohort study by Zhang et al.¹ examined the impact of healthy lifestyle (HL) behaviors on disability-free survival among elderly patients (aged > 65 years) in Oshaki City, Northeast Japan. A survey examining multiple lifestyle behaviors like smoking, exercise, fruit intake, and sleep habits was obtained at baseline during a two-week window after which participants were followed up for 10 years. The result was an increase in disability-free survival by 17.1 months in those who adhered to 3 HL behaviors compared with those who adhered to only 0 or 1 behaviors. The study used the LTCI, a mandatory form of national social insurance in Japan. Age or the presence of chronic conditions did not seem to play a role in the effectiveness of HL behaviors as both late elderly (≥ 75 years) and elderly patients having chronic conditions showed similar benefits from HL behaviors. …