Sports ability in young men and the incidence of cardiovascular disease.
OBJECTIVE
For physical activity to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, it must be sustained throughout life. We sought to determine the relation between the ability of young adults in different sports and their continued physical activity in midlife, and subsequent cardiovascular disease.


METHODS
Baseline self-reported ability in tennis, golf, football, baseball, and basketball was assessed in a cohort study involving 1019 male medical students (median age, 22 years). Physical activity and sports participation were assessed 22 years later. The incidence of cardiovascular disease was assessed during a median follow-up of 40 years, using annual questionnaires, medical records, and death certificates.


RESULTS
Subjects with high ability in tennis as young adults had the highest participation in the sport in midlife (median age, 48 years). In the midlife questionnaire administered in 1978, 33% reported playing tennis within the past week and 51% within the past year. Tennis was the only sport in which a higher ability during medical school was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. After adjustment for father's occupation, parental incidence of cardiovascular disease, serum cholesterol level, cigarette smoking, body mass index, and hypertension during follow-up, the relative hazard of developing cardiovascular disease was 0.56 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.35 to 0.89) in the high-ability group and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.47 to 0.96) in the low-ability group, compared with the no-ability group.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results support the association between sustained activity in aerobic sports and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Sustainability of activity should be considered when developing physical education programs for young adults.
Houston
Thomas K
TK
Medicine, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Meoni
Lucy A
LA
Ford
Daniel E
DE
Brancati
Frederick L
FL
Cooper
Lisa A
LA
Levine
David M
DM
Liang
Kung-Yee
KY
Klag
Michael J
MJ
D000328:Adult; D001484:Baseball; D001490:Basketball; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005538:Football; D006055:Golf; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013715:Tennis
D002784:Cholesterol