Physical Fitness in Adolescence and Subsequent Inflammatory Bowel Disease Risk

Physical fitness may reduce systemic inflammation levels relevant to the risk of symptomatic Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC); we assessed if fitness in adolescence is associated with subsequent inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) risk, independent of markers of risk and prodromal disease activity.

Swedish registers provided information on a cohort of 240,984 men (after exclusions) who underwent military conscription assessments in late adolescence (1969-1976). Follow-up started at least 4 years after the conscription assessment until 31 December 2009 (up to age 57 years). Cox's regression assessed the association of physical fitness with CD (n=986) and UC (n=1,878) in separate models, with adjustment including: socioeconomic conditions in childhood; physical fitness, height, body mass index, and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in adolescence; and subsequent diagnoses of IBD.

Low fitness was associated with a raised risk of IBD, with unadjusted hazard ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) of 1.62 (1.31-2.00) for CD and 1.36 (1.17-1.59) for UC. The results were attenuated by adjustment, particularly for markers of prodromal disease activity to 1.32 (1.05-1.66) and 1.25 (1.06-1.48), respectively. Raised ESR in adolescence was associated with increased risks for subsequent CD (5.95 (4.47-7.92)) and UC (1.92 (1.46-2.52)).

The inverse association of physical fitness with IBD risk is consistent with a protective role for exercise. However, evidence of disease activity before diagnosis was already present in adolescence, suggesting that some or all of the association between fitness and IBD may be due to prodromal disease activity reducing exercise capacity and therefore fitness.