Patients who have had a heart attack may be able to engage in physical activity within a week after hospital discharge without increasing their risk for another cardiovascular event, according to a new study.

Within the first month after discharge, no major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were reported among patients who were highly active, while five were reported among those who were less active, study researcher Rik Dijkman, PhD candidate at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, told attendees at the European Society of Cardiology Preventive Cardiology (EAPC) Congress 2026.

“Most prior studies focus on exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation, which typically starts weeks to months after myocardial infarction [MI],” he said in an interview with Medscape Medical News. The results have also been published online in the American Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

“To our knowledge, this is the first study specifically examining objectively measured physical activity in the immediate postdischarge period — that is, the first week — a phase for which evidence and guideline recommendations are currently lacking,” Dijkman said.

Study Design and Outcomes

The prospective cohort study enrolled 165 patients who had an MI and used thigh-worn accelerometers to monitor their activity during the first week after they were discharged, dividing them into high or low physical activity groups. Their average age was 65 years, and 65% were men.

The incidence of MACE was comparable between the high- and low-activity groups at 3 months (6.1% vs 6%) and 6 months (8.5% vs 8.4%).

Over 5 years, there was no significant difference in MACE between patients with high vs low physical activity after hospital discharge. However, patients who had higher preadmission physical activity levels had fewer events and had longer MACE-free survival than those with low activity levels before hospital admission (hazard ratio, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.25-0.86), a finding that reinforces “the protective role of an active lifestyle,” Dijkman said.

However, he noted postdischarge activity was not a factor in long-term MACE risk.

“Together with our findings suggesting that early postdischarge activity appears safe, this supports the idea that early mobilization and promotion of physical activity could become a more central component of post-MI care,” Dijkman said. “The early postdischarge phase may represent a key window for initiating sustainable lifestyle changes.”

The distinct differences in behavior between patients demonstrate that the period after MI is a “teachable moment,” he said.

The study’s strengths include the use of accelerometer-based measurements rather than self-reported patient data along with the 5-year clinical follow-up, Dijkman said.

“Future studies should include larger cohorts and ideally randomized controlled designs with standardized early physical activity interventions,” he added. “Repeated measurements of physical activity over time would also help to better understand behavioral trajectories and their relationship with outcomes.”

That, Dijkman said, would support the development of evidence-based recommendations for early postdischarge care.

Call for Caution

Paul Thompson, MD, chief of cardiology, emeritus at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, advised caution when interpreting the study results.

“A myocardial infarction now is not a myocardial infarction from yesteryear. People come in, they get stented, [and] there’s often little damage because we do it quickly. Stents stay open, but you always start off cautiously with these patients,” he said, calling the findings “reassuring.”

The study also demonstrated the potential for clinical intervention to change the behavior of people after they’ve had a heart attack, he said. “We’ve got to make sure that we don’t dismiss them as somebody that can’t do these things that we want them to do.”

Thompson also credited the researchers for using accelerometers to objectively monitor physical activity rather than having patients fill out self-reporting questionnaires.

Dijkman reported having no relevant disclosures. Thompson reported having financial relationships with Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and Company, Nike, Novo Nordisk, and GE HealthCare.

Richard Mark Kirkner is a medical journalist based in Philadelphia.