The associations of cardiovascular and lifestyle factors with mortality from chronic kidney disease as the underlying cause: the JACC study.

Objectives: This study investigated conventional cardiovascular and lifestyle risk factors affecting mortality from chronic kidney disease as the underlying cause in the general Japanese population.

Methods: We conducted an 18.8-year follow-up study of 44,792 men and 61,522 women aged 40-79 from the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk between 1986 and 1990. Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze the association between risk factors and mortality from chronic kidney disease.

Results: During the follow-up period, 373 participants (185 men and 188 women) died from chronic kidney disease. A body mass index of ≥27.0 kg/m2 (hazard ratio [HR], 2.00; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.19 to 3.36 for men and HR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.19 to 3.07 for women, compared with 23.0-24.9 kg/m2), a history of hypertension (HR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.67 to 3.22 for men and HR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.44 to 2.81 for women) and a history of diabetes mellitus (HR, 5.21; 95% CI, 3.68 to 7.37 for men and HR, 7.10; 95% CI, 4.93 to 10.24 for women) were associated with an increased risk of mortality from chronic kidney disease in both genders. In men, smoking was also associated with an increased risk (HR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.25 to 2.90), while current drinking (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.34 to 0.98 for <23 g/day; HR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.29 to 0.80 for 23-45 g/day and HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.32 to 0.86 for ≥46 g/day) and exercising ≥5 hr/wk (HR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.96) were associated with a lower risk. Similar but non-significant associations for smoking and drinking were observed in women.

Conclusions: In addition to a history of hypertension and a history of diabetes mellitus, body mass index, smoking status, drinking status, and exercise habits were associated with the risk of mortality from chronic kidney disease.