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Walking pace is inversely associated with risk of death and cardiovascular disease: The Physicians' Health Study
Tasnim F Imran1, Ariela Orkaby2, Jiaying Chen2
1Boston Medical Center, Boston University School of Medicine, 72 E Concord St, Boston, MA, 02118, USA; Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, 150 S Huntington Ave, Boston, MA, 02130, USA; Department of Medicine, Division of Aging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 1620 Tremont St, Boston, MA, 02120, USA.
Insights
Faster walking pace is linked to lower mortality and cardiovascular disease risk in men. This study highlights walking speed as a key indicator of health and longevity.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Gerontology
- Public Health
Background:
- Walking pace is a recognized metric for assessing functional status in clinical settings.
- Assessing functional status is crucial for understanding health outcomes in diverse populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between walking pace and mortality.
- To examine the relationship between walking pace and incident cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Main Methods:
- A prospective analysis was conducted using data from the Physicians' Health Study.
- 21,919 male physicians (mean age 67.8 years) were included in the analysis.
- Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess associations after adjusting for various health factors.
Main Results:
- A faster walking pace (≥3 mph) was associated with significantly lower mortality risk (HRs 0.63-0.72).
- Faster walking pace (≥3 mph) was also linked to a reduced risk of incident cardiovascular disease (HRs 0.70-0.75).
- These associations remained significant even after excluding participants who exercised regularly.
Conclusions:
- Walking pace is inversely associated with mortality and cardiovascular disease risk in US male physicians.
- Walking speed can serve as a valuable, easily measurable indicator of health status and prognosis.
Background:
Walking pace is increasingly being used to assess functional status in ambulatory settings.
Methods:
We conducted a prospective analysis within the Physicians' Health Study to examine whether walking pace is associated with mortality and incident cardiovascular disease (fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty). Participants included 21,919 male physicians with a mean age of 67.8 ± 9.0 years.
Results:
After a median follow-up of 9.4 years (IQR: 7.9-10.3), 3906 deaths and 2487 incident CVD events occurred. In a multivariable Cox proportional hazards model adjusting for age, body mass index, smoking, exercise frequency, and prevalent hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, cancer, and total weekly walking time, hazard ratios for mortality were 0.72 (95% CI: 0.64-0.81) for walking pace of 2-2.9mph, 0.63 (95% CI: 0.55-0.73) for walking pace of 3-3.9mph and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.48-0.83) for walking pace of ≥4mph compared to the group that reported not walking regularly (p trend <0.0001). Similar findings were observed for incident CVD: HRs were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.75-1.03) for a walking pace of 2-2.9mph, 0.75 (95% CI: 0.63-0.89) for a walking pace of 3-3.9mph and 0.70 (0.53-0.94) for a walking pace of ≥4mph compared to the group that reported not walking regularly (p trend 0.0001). These associations persisted after excluding those who exercised regularly.
Conclusion:
We found that walking pace is inversely associated with risk of mortality and CVD among US male physicians.