Cycling Linked to Reduced All-Cause, CVD Mortality in Diabetes

TUESDAY, July 20, 2021 (HealthDay News) — For adults with diabetes, cycling is associated with reduced all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, according to a study published online July 19 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Mathias Ried-Larsen, Ph.D., from the Center for Physical Activity Research in Copenhagen, Denmark, and colleagues examined the correlation between cycling and mortality among 7,459 adults with diabetes. Questionnaires were completed at baseline (from 1992 through 2000) and five years after baseline; 5,423 participants completed both questionnaires.

The researchers found 1,673 deaths were registered from all causes during 110,944 person-years of follow-up. Compared with the reference group of people who reported no cycling at baseline, those with one to 59, 60 to 149, 150 to 299, and 300 or more minutes per week had multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality of 0.78, 0.76, 0.68, and 0.76, respectively. A total of 975 deaths from all causes were recorded in an analysis of change in time spent cycling with 57,802 person-years of follow-up. Compared with those who reported no cycling at both examinations, initial noncyclists who started cycling and those who reported cycling at both examinations had multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality of 0.65 and 0.65, respectively; those who cycled and then stopped had a reduced hazard ratio that was not statistically significant. Results were similar for CVD mortality.

“The analysis from Ried-Larsen and colleagues strengthens the epidemiologic data on cycling and strongly suggests that it may contribute directly to longer and healthier lives,” write the authors of an accompanying editorial.

One author disclosed financial ties to Novo Nordisk.

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