Leisure-time, occupational, and commuting physical activity and the risk of chronic kidney disease in a working population

Physical activity has been linked to a lower risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD); however, evidence on the relationship between domain-specific physical activity and CKD is scarce. This study aimed to examine the risk of CKD in relation to leisure-time, occupational, and commuting physical activities in a large occupational cohort in Japan. Participants were 17,331 workers (20–65 years old) without CKD and were followed-up for a maximum period of 13 years. Incident CKD was defined as an estimated glomerular filtration rate of < 60 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and/or proteinuria determined using the dipstick test. The Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine the associations. During 147,752 person-years of follow-up, 4013 participants developed CKD. Workers who were standing or walking at work and those who were fairly active at work had adjusted hazard ratios of 0.88 (95% confidence interval 0.86–0.96) and 0.89 (95% confidence interval 0.78–1.02), respectively, for developing CKD than sedentary workers. Leisure-time physical activity and walking for commute were not associated with CKD risk. Our findings suggest that occupational, but not leisure-time and commuting physical activities, is associated with a lower CKD risk.