Physical activity intensity and cardiovascular disease in Southwest China: a study on data from the China...

This study aimed to assess the relationship between physical activity intensity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Yunnan Province.

This cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data extracted from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (Yunnan region) study and included 10,477 participants aged 30-79 years. Physical activity intensity was categorized as low (LPA), moderate (MPA), or vigorous (VPA). The primary outcome was composite prevalent CVD, including coronary heart disease, stroke, rheumatic heart disease, pulmonary-derived heart disease, and high-altitude heart disease, which were identified based on self-reported questionnaire data. Participants were diagnosed with CVD if they had one or more of these conditions.

Among the 10,447 participants, 267 (2.56%) had CVD. In the crude model, VPA was associated with lower odds of CVD than LPA [OR (95% CI): 0.10 (0.04, 0.26); P-trend < 0.001]. Compared to LPA, VPA was associated with lower odds of CVD [OR (95% CI): 0.30 (0.11, 0.85), P-trend = 0.018] after adjusting for age and sex. A similar association was observed after further adjustment for body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol consumption, education status, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total energy intake, total vegetable and fruit intake, and vegetable oil intake [OR (95% CI): 0.27 (0.09, 0.80); P-trend = 0.025]. We also conducted stratified analyses according to potential risk factors. We found a significant interaction between waist circumference and the intensity of physical activity regarding the odds of CVD.

VPA was cross-sectionally associated with lower odds of prevalent CVD in this high-altitude Chinese population. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to the cross-sectional design and potential reverse causation.