Association of neighborhood physical activity facilities with incident cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: 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. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12942-023-00340-9.