Nonexercise estimated cardiorespiratory fitness tied to reduced hypertension risk

Adults with good cardiorespiratory fitness, estimated by a nonexercise algorithm, have a lower risk of developing hypertension, suggests a study.

A team of investigators followed 5,513 participants (4,403 men and 1,110 women) free of hypertension from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study for incident hypertension, which was determined as resting systolic or diastolic blood pressure of at least 130/80 mm Hg or physician diagnosis.

Nonexercise estimated cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed in metabolic equivalents (METs) with sex-specific algorithms. Continuous variables used included age, body mass index, waist circumference, and resting heart rate, while dichotomous variables included being physically active and current smoking.

The association between cardiorespiratory fitness and risk of developing hypertension was examined using multivariable Cox regression models. Finally, the investigators reported hazard ratios (HRs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) as an index of strength of association.

Of the participants, 61.7 percent of men and 39.5 percent of women developed hypertension during an average follow-up of 5 years.

Men in the upper and middle tertiles of cardiorespiratory fitness had 22-percent (95 percent CI, 0.71‒0.86) and 10-percent (95 percent CI, 0.82‒0.99) reduced risk of developing hypertension, respectively, compared with those in the lower tertile.

On the other hand, women in the upper and middle tertiles of cardiorespiratory fitness had 30-percent (95 percent CI, 0.55‒0.88) and 6-percent (95 percent CI, 0.74‒1.17) reduced risk of developing hypertension, respectively.

Notably, each 1-MET increase resulted in a 10-percent increased risk of incident hypertension in the overall sample.