Accelerometer-measured intensity-specific physical activity, genetic predisposition, and the risk of venous thromboembolism: a cohort study.

Abstract

Objectives: The association between physical activity and venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains unclear. Therefore, we investigated the prospective dose-response associations between accelerometer-measured intensity-specific physical activity and new-onset VTE, accounting for genetic risk.

Methods and results: In total, 85 116 participants from the UK Biobank were included. Incident VTE was identified via linked hospital records and death registries. A weighted polygenic risk score (PRS) was used to quantify genetic risk for VTE, with higher values indicating a high genetic risk. Cox proportional hazard models were used to calculate the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) of the associations. Overall, 1182 incident VTE cases were documented during a median follow-up of 6.18 years. In the overall study population, the participants in the highest level of the total volume of physical activity [0.60 (0.45, 0.79)], moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity [0.66 (0.51, 0.86)], and light-intensity physical activity [0.66 (0.51, 0.85)] had lower adjusted HRs (95% CIs) for VTE than those of participants in the lowest level. Both the total volumes of physical activity and light-intensity physical activity were negatively associated with VTE risk in participants with low, intermediate, and high PRS. However, moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity was only protective against VTE in participants with low and intermediate PRS, with a significant interaction (P for interaction = 0.02).

Conclusion: Higher levels of physical activity of any intensity were associated with a lower risk of new-onset VTE. However, the negative association between moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity and new-onset VTE was significant only in participants with low and intermediate genetic predispositions to VTE.