Daily Total Physical Activity and Incident Cardiovascular Disease in Japanese Men and Women: Japan Public Health Center-Based Prospective Study.

Abstract

There is limited evidence for the association between daily total physical activity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Asian populations suffering from a greater burden of stroke than coronary heart disease. We investigated this association in a population-based prospective study of middle-aged and elderly Japanese people. The Japan Public Health Center–Based Prospective Study population has been previously described.1 After the exclusion of those with a history of CVD or cancer at baseline (2000–2003) and those with missing data on potential confounding factors, a total of 74 913 participants (34 874 men and 40 038 women) remained for the present analyses. The Institutional Human Ethics Review boards of Osaka University and the National Cancer Center approved the study. Participants were asked to provide information on the average daily amount of time and frequency spent in work-related (including commuting and housework) physical activity, leisure-time physical activity, and sleep.2 Metabolic equivalent tasks (METs) were determined on the basis of the previous report.3 Daily total physical activity level (MET-h/d) was calculated as the sum of physical activity levels spent during work-related physical activities such as walking and leisure-time physical activities such as jogging. Daily total sedentary time was calculated as the …