Prospective Study of Bicycling and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Danish Men and Women

• DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.116.024651
• Publication Date: 2016-10-31T20:42:51Z
• Authors: Kim Blond; Majken K. Jensen; Martin G. Rasmussen; Kim Overvad; Anne Tjønneland; Lars Østergaard; Anders Grøntved
• Keywords: Male; exercise; Denmark; physical activity; Coronary Disease; Middle Aged; coronary disease; Bicycling; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; myocardial infarction; 0302 clinical medicine; Risk Factors; Humans; Female; Prospective Studies; atherosclerosis; Aged; Follow-Up Studies

Bicycling for transportation and recreation is considered an important strategy for prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) in many populations. It is a low-impact type of physical activity that can be used for exercise purposes or incorporated in everyday living without requiring allocation of time to more structured exercise. Although the benefits of nonspecific active transportation and walking on CHD risk have been examined extensively, prospective studies evaluating the relationship between cycling habits and risk of CHD are scarce, and the relationship remains inconclusive. The aim of this prospective study was to examine the association among cycling, changes in cycling habits, and risk of incident CHD in a cohort study of Danish men and women. We followed 53 723 Danes (25 329 men and 28 394 women) 50 to 65 years of age at recruitment in 1993 to 1997 from the prospective cohort study, “Diet, Cancer, and Health” for 20 years. The study was approved by the Scientific Ethical Committee of Copenhagen (no H-KF-01-345/93) and conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Written informed content …