Key result
Vigorous physical activity linked to ~73% lower CVD odds at high altitude.
Why the study?
The relationship between physical activity intensity and cardiovascular disease in Yunnan Province needed to be assessed.
Does vigorous physical activity reduce the odds of composite prevalent cardiovascular disease in a high-altitude Chinese population?
Cross-Sectional (n=10,447)
Yes
Does vigorous physical activity reduce the odds of composite prevalent cardiovascular disease in a high-altitude Chinese population?
Vigorous physical activity is cross-sectionally associated with lower odds of prevalent cardiovascular disease in a high-altitude Chinese population, particularly among those with normal waist circumference.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Vigorous activity linked to lower CVD odds here; leaves open whether intensity confers causal benefit beyond this observational association.
Objective This study aimed to assess the relationship between physical activity intensity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Yunnan Province. Methods This cross-sectional analysis was conducted using data extracted from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (Yunnan region) study and included 10,477 participants aged 30–79 years. Physical activity intensity was categorized as low (LPA), moderate (MPA), or vigorous (VPA). The primary outcome was composite prevalent CVD, including coronary heart disease, stroke, rheumatic heart disease, pulmonary-derived heart disease, and high-altitude heart disease, which were identified based on self-reported questionnaire data. Participants were diagnosed with CVD if they had one or more of these conditions. Results Among the 10,447 participants, 267 (2.56%) had CVD. In the crude model, VPA was associated with lower odds of CVD than LPA [OR (95% CI): 0.10 (0.04, 0.26); P -trend < 0.001]. Compared to LPA, VPA was associated with lower odds of CVD [OR (95% CI): 0.30 (0.11, 0.85), P -trend = 0.018] after adjusting for age and sex. A similar association was observed after further adjustment for body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol consumption, education status, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total energy intake, total vegetable and fruit intake, and vegetable oil intake [OR (95% CI): 0.27 (0.09, 0.80); P -trend = 0.025]. We also conducted stratified analyses according to potential risk factors. We found a significant interaction between waist circumference and the intensity of physical activity regarding the odds of CVD. Conclusions VPA was cross-sectionally associated with lower odds of prevalent CVD in this high-altitude Chinese population. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to the cross-sectional design and potential reverse causation.
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Wang et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Cardiovascular disease (n=10,447). Vigorous physical activity (VPA) vs. Low physical activity (LPA) was evaluated on Composite prevalent cardiovascular disease (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.09-0.80, p=0.025). Vigorous physical activity was cross-sectionally associated with significantly lower odds of prevalent cardiovascular disease compared to low physical activity (OR 0.27) in a high-altitude population.
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