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Long-Term Physical Activity Patterns and Incident Kidney Stone Risk: A Wearable-Based Survival Analysis in U.S.
Daniel G Wong1, Qinyun Cai2, Simon L Conti1
1Department of Urology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA.
Journal of Endourology
|July 27, 2026
Summary
Regular physical activity, especially walking, significantly lowers the risk of developing kidney stones. Wearable devices can help track this activity for stone prevention strategies.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Preventive Medicine
- Digital Health
Background:
- Physical activity is linked to reduced kidney stone risk.
- Objective, long-term activity data from wearables are understudied for kidney stone prevention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the association between longitudinal physical activity metrics and new kidney stone occurrences.
- To utilize continuous Fitbit-derived data for evaluating kidney stone risk.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of 9376 participants from the All of Us research program.
- Used Fitbit data (steps, heart rate) from a 180-day baseline.
- Cox proportional hazards models analyzed associations with incident stone events, adjusting for covariates.
Main Results:
- 103 participants (1%) developed kidney stones.
- Increased daily steps were independently associated with a lower hazard of stone events (aHR 0.92 per 1000 steps/day).
- Moderate-to-vigorous activity showed a protective trend; sedentary time was not associated.
Conclusions:
- Long-term physical activity, particularly step volume, is inversely associated with incident kidney stone events.
- Physical activity is a potential modifiable target for kidney stone prevention.
- Wearable devices are feasible for kidney stone risk stratification.
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