Physical Activity and the Risk of Hemorrhagic Stroke: A Population-Based Longitudinal Follow-Up Study in Taiwan

Abstract

Background: Data on the relationship between physical activity (PA) and hemorrhagic stroke (HS) are limited in Asian populations. This population-based longitudinal follow-up study therefore investigates whether PA is associated with a reduced risk of HS in Taiwan.Methods: A total of 58,857 subjects who had participated in the Keelung Community-based Integrated Screening Program between 2005 and 2012 were enrolled. Information about their PA, obtained using questionnaires, was used to categorize them into three groups according to their average weekly time engaged in it: (1) no PA, (2) low PA (<90 min weekly), and (3) high PA (90 min per week or more). Cox proportional hazard regression was used to evaluate the effect of PA on HS. Stratified analysis by sex and comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia) were conducted to evaluate their impact on the relationship between PA and HS.Results: Compared to the no-PA group, the adjusted hazard ratio of HS for the low-PA group was 0.74 (95% CI, 0.57–0.96, p = 0.0219), and for the high-PA group, 0.72 (95% CI, 0.58–0.90, p = 0.004). The stratified analyses showed that, for the non-comorbidity strata, the beneficial effect of PA on reducing HS risk became stronger as PA increased. However, in the diabetes and hypertension strata, high PA did not appear to have any greater protective effect than low PA.Conclusions: Our findings suggested that even <90 min of PA per week might be beneficial to reduce HS risk. Such a low level of PA is likely to be more achievable and easier to maintain for the general population. Additionally, personalized recommendations based on pre-existing comorbidities may help optimize the beneficial effects of PA on HS prevention.

Analysis of the Dose-Response Effects of Physical Activity on Cardiocerebrovascular and All-Cause Mortality in Hypertension

“…In our study, higher MV-PA was related to the reduced cerebrovascular death in a U-shaped dose relationship. Most likely, PA could lower ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke found in the studies by Park et al and Feng et al ( 18 ), and better-controlled blood pressure was observed in the present study, which eventually contributed to the reduced cerebrovascular mortality. However, we could not obtain detailed causes of cerebrovascular death from NHANES and evaluate the specified effect of MV-PA on different types of cerebrovascular death (i.e., haemorrhagic or ischaemic).…”

Tea consumption and the risks of osteoporosis and hip fracture: a population-based longitudinal follow-up study

“…The information on lifestyle factors and tea consumption was obtained simultaneously using a structured questionnaire in the KCIS project. Based on the weekly PA time, we categorized the subjects into three PA groups as in our previous publication [ 21 ]: (1) a no PA group, comprising subjects who answered “Never” to the PA question; (2) a low PA group, consisting of subjects whose weekly PA times were less than 90 min; and (3) a high PA group, which included subjects whose weekly PA times were 90 min or more. We chose 90 min as the cut-off point between low PA and high PA because a prior population-based study in Taiwan showed that 90 min a week of PA reduced mortality from all causes [ 22 ].…”