This study used accelerometry to objectively measure physical activity in HCM patients, showing that reduced activity levels are associated with worse quality of life and challenging the assumption that exercise restriction improves safety.
Patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) often reduce their physical activity due to concerns about sudden cardiac death. However, objective data on activity patterns in HCM, particularly in relation to clinical phenotype and quality of life (QoL), remain limited.
We assessed physical activity using 7-day accelerometry in 203 patients with HCM and 37 genotype-positive, phenotype-negative (G+/P–) individuals. Outcomes included daily step counts, time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentariness. QoL was measured using the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ) and the EuroQoL 5-domain 5-level (EQ-5D-5L).
HCM patients took fewer steps/day (5254 vs 6573), engaged in less MVPA (3.4% vs 4.5% of the day) and were more often sedentary (61% vs 35% spending >80% of the day sedentary) compared with G+/P– controls (all p<0.01). Symptomat
