Sex differences in associations of daily stair climbing, genetic predisposition, and risk of cardiovascular disease among 389,973 UK adults.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to determin the sex differences in associations between daily stair climbing with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, and the role of genetic predisposition.

STUDY DESIGN

This study is a prospective cohort study from the UK Biobank.

METHODS

A total of 389,973 adults (mean age of 55.7 years, 45.2 % men) from the UK Biobank were analyzed. The frequency of daily stair climbing was self-reported via questionnaires, and the polygenetic risk score (PRS) of CVD was measured to assess genetic predisposition. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to predict CVD risk.

RESULTS

During a median follow-up of 13.7 years, 57,704 cases were recorded. Compared with the no stair climbing group, both sexes achieved a peak CVD benefit at 11-15 times/day of stair climbing (hazard ratio (HR) 95 % confidence intervals (CI) 0.92 [0.88-0.98] for male, HR 95 % CI 0.86 [0.82-0.90] for female). In the joint analyses, 11-15 times/day of stair climbing was significantly associated with a 12 % lower CVD risk even in the high PRS group of women. For males, 11-15 times/day of stair climbing was significantly associated with CVD risk only in intermediate and high PRS groups, but not in the low PRS group. Results were consistent in subgroup analyses stratified by age.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated the negative associations of daily stair climbing with CVD risk were more pronounced in females than in males, and these associations were independent of disease susceptibility to CVD only in females. These findings highlight stair climbing as a low-cost intervention strategy for preventing CVD, especially in females.