Key takeaways:

• Any level of physical activity could improve risk for stroke and all-cause death vs. inactivity.
• Results were similar regardless of whether individuals had AF or not.
• Improvement in lifespan was also observed.

Physical activity was linked to reduced risk for stroke and all-cause mortality to a similar extent in people with and without atrial fibrillation, researchers reported.

The health benefits of exercise were observed even at low levels of physical activity compared with inactivity and showed potential longevity benefits as well, according to study findings published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Data derived from Johansen KR, et al. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026;doi:10.1161/JAHA.126.048812.

“The results from our study indicate that physical activity was associated with a reduced risk of stroke and death in individuals with and without atrial fibrillation. So, regular physical activity is important for all and could be an important preventive strategy for people with [AF],” Kristoffer Johansen, PhD, researcher at the School of Sport Sciences at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, said in a press release.

For their prospective study, Johansen and colleagues evaluated data from 87,340 participants in the Tromsø and HUNT studies (mean age at baseline, 51 years; 47% men). All participants received a physical activity frequency-intensity-duration questionnaire and subsequently underwent a clinical exam.

Participants from the sixth and seventh Tromsø study surveys conducted in 2007 to 2008 and 2015 to 2016 and the third and fourth HUNT study surveys conducted in 2006 to 2008 and 2017 to 2019 were included in the analysis, according to the study methods.

Researchers classified participants’ self-reported physical activity levels as either inactive (0 metabolic equivalent of task [MET] minutes per week), low (1 to 449 MET minutes per week), moderate (450 to 899 MET minutes per week) or high ( 900 MET minutes per week).

Occurrence of stroke and mortality were obtained using linked data from the Norwegian Patient Registry database, according to the study methods.

Over a median follow-up of 13.5 years, researchers reported that any levels of physical activity were associated with lower risk for stroke compared with inactivity:

• low (RR = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.84-0.99);
• moderate (RR = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73-0.89); and
• high (RR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.74-0.92).

Similarly, risk for all-cause mortality was also reduced with any level of physical activity vs. inactivity, according to the study:

• low (RR = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.86-0.93);
• moderate (RR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.78-0.86); and
• high (RR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.73-0.82).

Stroke and all-cause mortality risk benefits associated with physical activity were similar regardless of whether participants were diagnosed with AF, according to the study.

Moreover, researchers reported an increase in life expectancy associated with physical activity, with gains of up to 1.15 years among those who reported high levels of physical activity.

“I hope our results will increase awareness among clinicians and people with [AF] about the benefits of even low levels of physical activity,” Johansen said in the release. “Real health benefits can happen no matter when a person starts getting active, and even a little exercise is better than nothing.”