Association of Physical Activity with Aortic Disease in Japanese Men and Women: The Japan Collaborative Cohort Study

Aims: Evidence of the effects of physical activity on mortality from aortic diseases, especially in Asian populations, remains limited. This study aimed to examine these effects using data from a large long-term cohort study of Japanese men and women. Methods: Between 1988 and 1990, 32,083 men and 43,454 women in Japan, aged 40–79 years with no history of coronary heart disease, stroke, aortic diseases, or cancer, filled in questionnaires on time spent walking and participating in sports and were followed up until 2009. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of aortic disease mortality and its types (aortic aneurysm and dissection) according to the time spent walking and participating in sports were calculated after adjusting for potential confounding factors using the Cox proportional hazards model. Results: During a median follow-up of 19.1 years, a total of 173 deaths from aortic disease (91 cases of aortic dissection and 82 of aortic aneurysm) were documented. Sports participation time was inversely associated with the risk of death from aortic aneurysm: the multivariable HRs (95% CIs) were 0.68 (0.40–1.16) for ＜1 h/week, 0.50 (0.19–1.35) for 3–4 h/week, and 0.31 (0.10–0.93) for ≥ 5 h/week (p for trend=0.23) compared with 1–2 h/week. The time spent walking was not associated with death from aortic aneurysm, dissection, and total aortic diseases. Conclusions: Greater time spent in sports participation was associated with a reduced risk of mortality from aortic aneurism in the Japanese population. Further studies are needed to investigate the relationship between physical activity and aortic dissection.