# Associations between Physical Activity Trajectories and Incident Hypertension

## TL;DR

This study found that men who maintain medium-heavy physical activity in early adulthood and gradually reduce it later have a lower risk of developing hypertension.

## Contribution

The study identifies distinct physical activity patterns and their specific association with hypertension risk in men.

## Key findings

- Five distinct physical activity trajectories were identified in men.
- Medium-heavy activity followed by gradual decline was linked to lower hypertension risk in men.
- Women showed two distinct physical activity patterns, but no significant associations with hypertension were found.

## Abstract

We aimed to characterize physical activity
(PA) trajectories across adulthood and to estimate their association with
incident hypertension risk.

Data were obtained from the China
Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) conducted during 2004–2011. Group-based
trajectory modeling (GBTM) was used to identify distinct groups of PA
trajectories. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to investigate the
association.

A total of 11,162 participants whose PA was
repeatedly estimated by self-report from questionnaires two to four times in the
CHNS were included in our study. During the 5.4 years of follow-up, 3824 incident
hypertension cases were identified. Five distinct PA trajectories were identified
in men: light and slight decline, light and gradual decline then sharp rise,
light to medium-heavy then decline, medium-heavy and gradual decline, and heavy
and sharp decline. Two distinct PA trajectories were identified in women: light
and stable, and medium and gradual decline. The PA trajectory of medium-heavy and
gradual decline was significantly associated with decreased risk of hypertension
in men, with the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) being 0.80
(0.63, 0.99), 0.74 (0.59, 0.93), 0.76 (0.60, 0.96), and 0.70 (0.55, 0.88) in
models 1–4, respectively.

Our study identified five
distinct long-term PA trajectories in men and two distinct trajectories in women.
The PA trajectory of medium-heavy PA in early adulthood followed by gradual
decline was found to be significantly associated with a decreased risk of
hypertension in later life in men.