Association of leisure time physical activity with the risk of coronary heart disease, hypertension and diabetes in middle-aged men and women

Background, The association of physical activity and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), hypertension and diabetes has previously been studied mostly in separate follow-up studies. The present analysis focuses on the association between physical activity and these three metabolic diseases in a representative adult cohort. Methods. The effect of the total amount and intensity of leisure time physical activity on the risk of the three diseases was studied in a cohort of 1340 men and 1500 women aged 35-63 years. Results. During the 10 years of follow-up the incidence rates per 1000 person-years for CHD, hypertension and diabetes were 108, 142 and 64 for men and 75, 117 and 54 for women, respectively. In the Cox proportional hazards model the men's total amount of activity was inversely associated with the risk of CHD and hypertension. An age-and smoking-adjusted relative risk of 1.98 (95% confidence interval [CI]:1.22-3.23) for CHD and age-adjusted risk of 1.73 (95% CI : 1.13-2.65) for hypertension were found for the lowest third total activity group compared with the highest third of total activity, Vigorous activity once or more often a week was inversely associated with the risk of hypertension. For the women both a higher total amount of activity and weekly vigorous activity had an inverse association with the risk of diabetes. An age-adjusted relative risk of 2.64 (95% CI : 1.28-5.44) for diabetes was found for the lowest third activity group compared with the highest third. Conclusions. The results suggest a preventive effect of leisure time physical activity on CHD, hypertension and diabetes. This effect may differ among middle-aged men and women and the relative importance of the total amount and the intensity may vary depending on the outcome measure.