Association of accelerometer-derived “weekend warrior” moderate to vigorous physical activity, chronic kidney disease and acute kidney injury

Objective

To examine the relationship between an accelerometer-derived “weekend warrior” pattern, characterized by achieving the most moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) over 1–2 days, as opposed to more evenly distributed patterns, with risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI).

Methods

77,977 participants without prior kidney diseases and with usable accelerometer data (collected between 2013 and 2015) were included from the UK Biobank. Three physical activity patterns were compared: active weekend warrior pattern (achieving ≥150 min MVPA per week and accumulating ≥50 % of total MVPA in 1–2 days), active regular pattern (achieving ≥150 min MVPA but not meeting active weekend warrior criteria per week), and inactive pattern (<150 min MVPA per week). The study outcomes included incident CKD and AKI, ascertained through self-report data and data linkage with primary care, hospital admissions, and death registry records.

Results

During a median follow-up of 6.8 years, 1324 participants developed CKD and 1515 developed AKI. In multivariable-adjusted models, when compared with inactive participants, individuals with active weekend warrior pattern (CKD: hazard ratio [HR], 0.79, 95 % confidence interval [CI], 0.69–0.89; AKI: HR, 0.70, 95 %CI, 0.62–0.79) and those with active regular pattern (CKD: HR, 0.81, 95 %CI, 0.69–0.95; AKI: HR, 0.79, 95 %CI, 0.68–0.91) exhibited a similar and significantly lower risk of incident CKD and AKI. Similar findings were observed at the median threshold of ≥230.4 min of MVPA per week.

Conclusion

Concentrated MVPA within 1 to 2 days is as effective as distributed ones in decreasing the risk of renal outcomes.