Associations of physical activity intensity with incident cardiovascular diseases and mortality among 366,566 UK adults

BACKGROUND: The associations of the proportion of vigorous physical activity (VPA) to moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) with incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality are unclear. METHODS: The present study included 366,566 participants (aged 40–69 years) without baseline CVD from the UK biobank during 2006 to 2010. Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for risks of outcomes. RESULTS: During a median 11.8 years of follow-up, among 366,566 participants (mean age [SD]: 56.0 [8.1]), 31,894 incident CVD and 19,823 total deaths were documented. Compared with no VPA, 0%-30% of VPA to MVPA was associated with 12% and 19% lower risks of incident CVD (HR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.86–0.91]) and all-cause mortality (HR, 0.81 [95% CI, 0.78–0.84]), respectively. Furthermore, we found that the maximum reduction of risks of incident CVD and all-cause mortality occurred at performing approximately 30% of VPA to MVPA (P < 0.001). Compared with participants reporting the lowest levels of MVPA (moderate physical activity [MPA], 0–150 min/week; VPA, 0–75 min/week), those performing 150–300 min/week of MPA and ≥ 150 min/week of VPA experienced the lowest risk of incident CVD (HR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.79–0.95]) and all-cause mortality (HR, 0.71 [95% CI, 0.63–0.80]). Interestingly, we found that smokers yielded more cardiovascular benefits than non-smokers by performing a higher volume of VPA. CONCLUSIONS: Comparing with UK adults reporting no VPA, engaging in 30% of VPA was associated with the lowest risk of incident CVD and all-cause mortality. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12966-022-01393-y.