IJCS | Volume 32, Nº4, July/August 2019

387 Table 1 - Characteristics of the studies included in the meta-analysis Study Design Date Sample size Average age p value adopted Inclusion of participants Aizer et al. 4 Post-Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial Randomization in 1982 with follow-up until 2001 22.071 40 to 84 years 0.01 Participants from the Physicians' Health Study aged 40-82 years in 1982 and randomized to aspirin and/ or beta-carotene Azarbal et al. 5 Prospective Observational Data from medical centers collected between 1994 and 1998 81.317 50 to 79 years 0.01 Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Bapat et al. 6 Prospective Cohort The database is from 2000 to 2002 5.793 45 to 84 years 0.05 Participants from the MESA database Grundvold et al. 7 Prospective Cohort The database is from 1972 to 1975 2.014 40 to 59 years 0.05 Five government institutions in Oslo Mokhayeri et al. 8 Prospective Cohort Patients followed from the years 2000 to 2011 6.487 45 to 84 years 0.05 Participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis Morseth et al. 9 Prospective Cohort The database is from 1986/7 4.791 12 to 67 years 0.05 Tromsø Study participants Mozaffarian et al. 10 Prospective Cohort The database is from 1999 to 2001 5.446 ≥ 65 years 0,05 Participants from the Cardiovascular Health Study Myrstad et al. 11 Transversal The database is for 2009 2.277 65 to 90 years 0.001 Elderly men undergoing long-term sports Qureshi et al. 12 Observational The database is from 1991 to 2009 64.561 Extracts of ages (< 40, 40- 49, 50-59, ≥ 60) 0.05 Participants from the Henry Ford Exercise Testing (FIT) Project Everett et al. 13 Post-Hoc analysis of a prospective study Beginning in 1993 and randomization in 2004 34.759 ≥ 45 years 0.05 Women participating in the Women's Health Study Williams et al. 14 Cohort Partial reevaluation of 2006 from the National Health Study of Corridors II and the National Walkers' Health Study 46.807 33 to 72 years 0.05 Participants from the national study of runners and walkers for health Garlipp et al. Physical activity and atrial fibrillation Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2019;32(4):384-390 Original Article the lower the risk of AF. Also, Ofman et al., 17 after meta- analysis involving 95,526 individuals, did not identify a statistically significant association between regular physical activity and increased incidence of AF. In this sense, the guidelines recommend performing at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of intense physical activity per week. 18 Patients with AF report symptoms such as decreased exercise tolerance, dyspnea, palpitations and fatigue, which directly affect the quality of life. However, physical exercise and training decrease these symptoms, and may have antiarrhythmic effects in individuals with paroxysmal AF, as well as protect against the development of AF. 19 In this sense, in order to verify