Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023:28:60.
doi: 10.1265/ehpm.23-00166.

Stair climbing and the incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: a population-based prospective cohort study

Ahmed Arafa  1   2 , Rena Kashima  1   3 , Yoshihiro Kokubo  1
Affiliations

Stair climbing and the incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: a population-based prospective cohort study

Ahmed Arafa et al. Environ Health Prev Med. 2023.

Abstract

Background: Stair climbing is a readily available form of physical activity with potential cardioprotective merits. Herein, we investigated the association between stair climbing and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) incidence among Japanese people.

Methods: This prospective cohort study used data from 7,282 participants, aged 30-84 years, registered in the Suita Study and free from stroke and ischemic heart disease (IHD). Standard approaches were used to detect incident ASCVD events, including cerebral infarction and IHD, during follow-up. Stair climbing was assessed using a baseline questionnaire. We applied the Cox regression to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of incident ASCVD for climbing stairs in 20-39%, 40-59%, and ≥60% compared to <20% of the time. We adjusted the regression models for age, sex, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, lipid profile, chronic kidney disease, and history of cardiac murmur or valvular diseases.

Results: A total of 536 new ASCVD events were detected within a median follow-up period of 16.6 years. In the age- and sex-adjusted model, stair climbing 20-39%, 40-59%, and ≥60% of the time was associated with lower ASCVD incidence: HRs (95% CIs) = 0.72 (0.56, 0.92), 0.86 (0.68, 1.08), and 0.78 (0.61, 0.99), respectively (p-trend = 0.020). The corresponding associations were attenuated after adjusting for lifestyle and clinical factors: HRs (95% CIs) = 0.74 (0.58, 0.95), 0.90 (0.71, 1.13), and 0.89 (0.69, 1.13), respectively (p-trend = 0.152).

Conclusion: Frequent stair climbing was associated with lower ASCVD incidence; however, this association was partly explained by lifestyle and clinical factors of participants.

Keywords: ASCVD; Population-based study; Prospective cohort; Stair climbing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

We have no conflict of interest to declare.

References

    1. Roth GA, Mensah GA, Johnson CO, Addolorato G, Ammirati E, Baddour LM, et al. Global burden of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, 1990–2019: update from the GBD 2019 Study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2020;76(25):2982–3021. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Arafa A, Kokubo Y, Kashima R, Teramoto M, Sakai Y, Nosaka S, et al. The Lifelong Health Support 10: a Japanese prescription for a long and healthy life. Environ Health Prev Med. 2022;27:23. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bassett DR, Vachon JA, Kirkland AO, Howley ET, Duncan GE, Johnson KR. Energy cost of stair climbing and descending on the college alumnus questionnaire. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29(9):1250–4. - PubMed
    1. Boreham CA, Kennedy RA, Murphy MH, Tully M, Wallace WF, Young I. Training effects of short bouts of stair climbing on cardiorespiratory fitness, blood lipids, and homocysteine in sedentary young women. Br J Sports Med. 2005;39(9):590–3. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Meyer P, Kayser B, Kossovsky MP, Sigaud P, Carballo D, Keller PF, et al. Stairs instead of elevators at workplace: cardioprotective effects of a pragmatic intervention. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil. 2010;17(5):569–75. - PubMed