Associations between questionnaires on lifestyle and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in a Japanese general population: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the association between questionnaires related to lifestyle habits and atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD). DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study. SETTINGS: Community-based medical checkups, called specific health checkups started in Japan since 2008. This checkup includes standard medical examinations as well as a specific questionnaire related to lifestyle habits. PARTICIPANTS: Overall, 47,842 subjects (males = 16,913, 35.4%) aged ≥40 years who underwent a Japanese specific health checkup in 2014 in Kanazawa city were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Association between 12 lifestyle habits-related questionnaires and the presence of ASCVD, including coronary artery disease and stroke. The questionnaire included the following 12 questions on lifestyle habits: 1) weight gain (>10 kg/20 years), 2) exercise (>30 min, twice a week, >1 year), 3) daily walking or equivalent (>1 h), 4) walking faster (than others in the same generation), 5) body weight changes (>3 kg/year), 6) eating faster (than others in the same generation), 7) eating within 2 h before going to bed (more than three times a week), 8) having a snack after dinner (more than three times a week), 9) skipping breakfast (more than three times a week), 10) daily drinking (alcohol), 11) heavy drinking (more than 60 g ethanol/day), and 12) good sleeping. RESULTS: Multivariable logistic regression analyses revealed that walking faster (odds ratio [OR] = 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.69–0.79, p < 0.0003), body weight changes (>3 kg/year, OR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.16–1.37, p < 0.0003), eating faster (OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.03–1.15, p = 0.003), daily drinking (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.76–0.89, p < 0.0003), and good sleeping (OR = 0.86, 95% CI = 0.79–0.93, p < 0.0003) were independently associated with ASCVD. Subjects with a high lifestyle habits risk score (number of bad habits: 7–12) had significantly higher odds for ASCVD than those with a low risk score (number of bad habits: 0–3, OR = 1.78, 95%CI = 1.62–1.95, p < 0.0003). CONCLUSION: Simple questionnaires related to lifestyle habits were associated with self-reported ASCVD.