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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cardiovasc. Med.
Sec. Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2025.1383888

Associations between physical activity and heart disease among middleaged and older Chinese adults

Provisionally accepted
Yujia Liu Yujia Liu 1Chaoqun Yuan Chaoqun Yuan 2Tong Chen Tong Chen 1Linlin Zhou Linlin Zhou 1Gengyin Zhu Gengyin Zhu 3Yu Chen Yu Chen 3*
  • 1 Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 2 Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
  • 3 Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: To quantify the risk of heart diseases (HD) and determine the relationship between physical activity (PA) dimensions and HD among Chinese middle-aged and older individuals. Methods: Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2018), 16,927 participants were included in this study. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine the association between HD risk and PA dimensions, including volume, intensity, frequency, and duration. Restricted cubic spline analysis was conducted to assess the dose-response relationship between PA and HD risk. Results: Compared to the least active participants, a low risk of HD was significantly associated with a higher PA volume. With regards to frequency, a lower HD risk was associated with performing vigorous PA except for 3-5 days/week. The frequency and duration of light as well as moderate PA had no significant associations with HD risk after adjusted by using covariates. A non-linear association was also noted, with increased PA being associated with decreased HD risk, with steeper reductions in HD risk at low activity levels than at high activity levels. There was a non-linear association between PA and HD risk in participants in male and aged older than 65 years. Conclusions: An inverse non-linear dose-response association was detected between the total volume of PA and HD risk. As PA increased to 4,000 METs-min/week, HD risk in the overall population decreased by approximately 26%, while further increases in PA did not produce any further marked reduction in the risk. A vigorous intensity of PA was associated with a reduced risk of HD and is strongly recommended.

    Keywords: physical activity, Heart disease, Middle-aged and older individuals, Dose-response relationship, Intensity

    Received: 29 Feb 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Yuan, Chen, Zhou, Zhu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yu Chen, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400030, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.