Daily Sedentary Time and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease: The National FINRISK 2002 Study

Daily sitting time may be a risk factor for incident cardiovascular disease (CVD); however, this has not yet been extensively studied. Our aim was to study the association of total sitting time with the risk of CVD.

Participants (n = 4516, free of CVD at baseline) from the National FINRISK 2002 Study were followed for fatal and nonfatal CVD using national registers. Participants underwent a health examination and completed questionnaires, including total daily sitting time.

During a mean follow-up of 8.6 years, 183 incident CVD cases occurred. Sitting on a typical weekday, at baseline, was statistically significantly associated with fatal and nonfatal incident CVD. The hazard ratios (with 95% confidence intervals, CI) for the total amount of sitting were 1.05 (95% CI, 1.00-1.10) in the age and gender adjusted model and 1.06 (95% CI, 1.01-1.11) in the fully adjusted model, including age, gender, employment status, education, BMI, smoking status, leisure time physical activity, use of vegetables and fruit, alcohol use, blood pressure or its medication, and cholesterol or its medication.

Our findings suggest that total amount of daily sitting is a risk factor for incident CVD. More research is needed to understand the etiology of sedentary behavior and CVD.