Does Physical Activity Modify the Association between Air Pollution and Recurrence of Cardiovascular Disease?

We aimed to assess a possible interaction effect between physical activity and particulate air pollution exposure on recurrence of ischemic heart disease (IHD) and stroke. We followed 2221 adult participants comprising first time IHD (1403) and stroke (818) cases from the Västerbotten Intervention Program between 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2013. During mean follow-up times of 5.5 years, 428 and 156 participants developed IHD and stroke recurrence, respectively. PM2.5 concentrations above the median (5.48 µg/m³) were associated with increased risk of IHD and stroke recurrence by 13% (95% CI -17-45%) and 21% (95% CI -19-80%), respectively. These risk increases were however only observed among those that exercised at most once a week at 21% (95% CI -5-50%) and 25% (95% CI -19-90%) for IHD and stroke recurrence, respectively. Higher frequency of exercise at recruitment was positively associated with IHD and stroke recurrence but only the association with IHD recurrence among participants with low residential PM2.5 was statistically significant (96% increased risk (95%-CI 22-215%)). However, no interaction effect between physical activity and PM2.5 exposure was found. Our findings suggest that physical activity may reduce the air pollution exposure associated risk for recurrent cardiovascular disease, likely by reducing the inflammatory response.