This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Higher fitness level reduced hypertension risk
People with high fitness levels may be less likely to have or develop hypertension, regardless of baseline risk factors, according to new findings.
Researchers analyzed the association between fitness and hypertension in 57,284 participants from the Henry Ford Exercise Testing (FIT) Project, which was conducted between 1991 and 2009. The participants’ mean age was 53 years, 49% were women and 29% were black.
Mouaz H. Al-Mallah, MD, and colleagues measured participants’ fitness via a clinician-referred treadmill stress test. Physical fitness was expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs) and was based on the workload derived from the maximal speed and grade achieved during total treadmill time. Participants were stratified into four groups: <6 METs, 6 to 9 METs, 10 to 11 METs and ≥12 METs.
The primary outcomes were prevalent hypertension, defined as prior or baseline diagnosis of hypertension and use of antihypertensive medications, and incident hypertension, defined as a new diagnosis of hypertension confirmed by at least three separate consecutive encounters.
The ≥12 METs group had lower odds of prevalent hypertension compared with the <6 METs group (adjusted OR=0.73; 95% CI, 0.67-0.8). During a median follow-up period of 4.4 years (interquartile range, 2.2-7.7), 36.4% of the 22,109 participants without hypertension at baseline were diagnosed with hypertension, according to the researchers.
Unadjusted 5-year incidence rates were 49% for participants with <6 METs, 41% for those with 6 to 9 METs, 30% for those with 10 to 11 METs and 21% for those with ≥12 METs. After adjustment, participants with ≥12 METs had a 20% lower risk for incident hypertension compared with those with <6 METs (HR=0.8; 95% CI, 0.72-0.89). The results were consistent across age, sex, race, obesity, resting BP and diabetes status.
“Fitness is a strong predictor of who develops hypertension and who does not,” Al-Mallah, cardiologist at the Henry Ford Heart and Vascular Institute, associate professor of medicine at Wayne State University, both Detroit, and head of cardiac imaging at King Abdulaziz Cardiac Center, Saudi Arabia, said in a press release. “This is a clear message to everyone: patients, physicians and lawmakers. It’s very important to be fit.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.