Association of neighborhood physical activity facilities with incident cardiovascular disease

The availability of physical activity (PA) facilities in neighborhoods is hypothesized to influence cardiovascular disease (CVD), but evidence from individual-level long-term cohort studies is limited. We aimed to assess the association between neighborhood exposure to PA facilities and CVD incidence.

A total of 4658 participants from the Chinese Multi-provincial Cohort Study without CVD at baseline (2007-2008) were followed for the incidence of CVD, coronary heart disease (CHD), and stroke. Availability of PA facilities was defined as both the presence and the density of PA facilities within a 500-m buffer zone around the participants' residential addresses. Time-dependent Cox regression models were performed to estimate the associations between the availability of PA facilities and risks of incident CVD, CHD, and stroke.

During a median follow-up of 12.1 years, there were 518 CVD events, 188 CHD events, and 355 stroke events. Analyses with the presence indicator revealed significantly lower risks of CVD (hazard ratio [HR] 0.80, 95% confidence interval ([CI] 0.65-0.99) and stroke (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.60-0.97) in participants with PA facilities in the 500-m buffer zone compared with participants with no nearby facilities in fully adjusted models. In analyses with the density indicator, exposure to 2 and ≥ 3 PA facilities was associated with 35% (HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.47-0.91) and 28% (HR 0.72, 95% CI 0.56-0.92) lower risks of CVD and 40% (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.40-0.90) and 38% (HR 0.62, 95% CI 0.46-0.84) lower risks of stroke compared with those without any PA facilities in 500-m buffer, respectively. Effect modifications between presence of PA facilities and a history of hypertension for incident stroke (P = 0.049), and a history of diabetes for incident CVD (P = 0.013) and stroke (P = 0.009) were noted.

Residing in neighborhoods with better availability of PA facilities was associated with a lower risk of incident CVD. Urban planning intervention policies that increase the availability of PA facilities could contribute to CVD prevention.