Physical Activity Measured by Implanted Devices Predicts Atrial Arrhythmias and Patient Outcome: Results of IMPLANTED (Italian Multicentre Observational Registry on Patients With Implantable Devices Remotely Monitored)

Abstract

Background To determine whether daily physical activity (PA), as measured by implanted devices (through accelerometer sensor), was related to the risk of developing atrial arrhythmias during long‐term follow‐up in a population of heart failure (HF) patients with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Methods and Results The study population was divided into 2 equally sized groups (PA cutoff point: 3.5 h/d) according to their mean daily PA recorded by the device during the 30‐ to 60‐day period post‐ICD implantation. Propensity score matching was used to compare 2 equally sized cohorts with similar characteristics between lower and higher activity patients. The primary end point was time free from the first atrial high‐rate episode (AHRE) of duration ≥6 minutes. Secondary end points were: first AHRE ≥6 hours, first AHRE ≥48 hours, and a combined end point of death or HF hospitalization. Data from 770 patients (65±15 years; 66% men; left ventricular ejection fraction 35±12%) remotely monitored for a median of 25 months were analyzed. A PA ≥3.5 h/d was associated with a 38% relative reduction in the risk of AHRE ≥6 minutes (72‐month cumulative survival: 75.0% versus 68.1%; log rank P =0.025), and with a reduction in the risk of AHRE ≥6 hours, AHRE ≥48 hours, and the combined end point of death or HF hospitalization (all P <0.05). Conclusions In HF patients with ICD, a low level of daily PA was associated with a higher risk of atrial arrhythmias, regardless of the patients' baseline characteristics. In addition, a lower daily PA predicted death or HF hospitalization.