Cardiorespiratory Fitness and the Incidence of Type 2 Diabetes

Prospective study of Japanese men

  1. Susumu S. Sawada, PHD1,
  2. I-Min Lee, MBBS, SCD23,
  3. Takashi Muto, MD, PHD4,
  4. Kazuko Matuszaki, MD, PHD1 and
  5. Steven N. Blair, PED5
  1. 1Tokyo Gas Health Promotion Center, Tokyo, Japan
  2. 2Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts
  3. 3Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
  4. 4Department of Public Health, School of Medicine, Dokkyo University, Tochigi, Japan
  5. 5The Cooper Institute, Dallas, Texas
  1. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Susumu S. Sawada, PhD, Tokyo Gas Health Promotion Center, Tokyo, 1-5-20 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8527, Japan. E-mail: s-sawada{at}tokyo-gas.co.jp

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—To investigate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and the incidence of type 2 diabetes among Japanese men.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—This prospective cohort study was conducted in 4,747 nondiabetic Japanese men, aged 20–40 years at baseline, enrolled in 1985 with follow-up to June 1999. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured using a cycle ergometer test, and Vo2max was estimated. During a 14-year follow-up, 280 men developed type 2 diabetes.

RESULTS—The age-adjusted relative risks of developing type 2 diabetes across quartiles of cardiorespiratory fitness (lowest to highest) were 1.0 (referent), 0.56 (95% CI 0.42–0.75), 0.35 (0.25–0.50), and 0.25 (0.17–0.37) (for trend, P < 0.001). After further adjustment for BMI, systolic blood pressure, family history of diabetes, smoking status, and alcohol intake, the association between type 2 diabetes risk and cardiorespiratory fitness was attenuated but remained significant (1.0, 0.78, 0.63, and 0.56, respectively; for trend, P = 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS—These results indicate that a low cardiorespiratory fitness level is an important risk factor for incidence of type 2 diabetes among Japanese men.

Footnotes

  • A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances.

    • Accepted July 10, 2003.
    • Received May 8, 2003.
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  1. doi: 10.2337/diacare.26.10.2918 Diabetes Care October 2003 vol. 26 no. 10 2918-2922
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