Association of Self-Reported Walking Pace With Cancer Incidence and Mortality: The Women’s Health Accelerometry Collaboration

Background : While the health benefits of walking are well-established, it is not clear if walking pace is associated with cancer-related outcomes. Purpose : To investigate associations of self-reported walking pace with cancer incidence and mortality among women 62–99 years of age in the Women’s Health Accelerometry Collaboration. Methods : Women self-reported walking pace, classified as brisk (≥3 mph), average (2–2.9 mph), casual (<2 mph), or does not walk regularly, and were followed for cancer outcomes. Multivariable stratified Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Results : There were 22,358 women in the analytic sample. During a mean 8.0 years of follow-up, 1891 women developed cancer (n = 615 cancer deaths). Self-reported walking paces were not associated with all site cancer incidence (compared with a brisk walking pace: average walking pace hazard ratio, 1.08 (95% confidence interval, 0.95–1.23); casual walking pace, 1.15 (0.97–1.33), and does not walk regularly 1.14 (0.97–1.34) nor cancer mortality (average walking pace, 0.97 [0.76–1.25], casual walking pace, 0.98 [0.74–1.30], and does not walk regularly 1.20 [0.90–1.60]). Findings were similar when colon, endometrial, and lung cancer were examined, separately. However, casual walking pace was associated with a higher risk of a composite of inactivity-related cancers (1.21 [1.00–1.47]), and breast cancer (1.40 [1.09–1.80]) compared with a brisk walking pace. Conclusions : Slower, compared with faster, self-reported walking paces may be related to a higher risk of some cancers in postmenopausal women. Future research is needed to confirm these findings and investigate mechanisms underlying the associations of walking pace with these cancers.