Association of lifestyle with reduced stroke risk in 41 314 individuals with diabetes: Two prospective cohort studies in China

Aim To investigate the associations of individual and combined healthy lifestyle factors (HLS) with the risk of stroke in individuals with diabetes in China. Methods This prospective analysis included 41 314 individuals with diabetes [15 191 from the Comprehensive Research on the Prevention and Control of the Diabetes (CRPCD) project and 26 123 from the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) study]. Associations of lifestyle factors, including cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet, body shape and sleep duration, with the risk of stroke, intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and ischaemic stroke (IS) were assessed using Cox proportional hazard models. Results During median follow‐up periods of 8.02 and 9.05 years, 2499 and 4578 cases of stroke, 2147 and 4024 of IS, and 160 and 728 of ICH were documented in individuals with diabetes in the CRPCD and CKB cohorts, respectively. In the CRPCD cohort, patients with ≥5 HLS had a 14% lower risk of stroke (hazard ratio (HR): 0.86, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75‐0.98) than those with ≤2 HLS. In the CKB cohort, the adjusted HR (95% CI) for patients with ≥5 HLS were 0.74 (0.66‐0.83) for stroke, 0.74 (0.66‐0.83) for IS, and 0.57 (0.42‐0.78) for ICH compared with those with ≤2 HLS. The pooled adjusted HR (95% CI) comparing patients with ≥5 HLS versus ≤2 HLS was 0.79 (0.69‐0.92) for stroke, 0.80 (0.68‐0.93) for IS, and 0.60 (0.46‐0.78) for ICH. Conclusions Maintaining a healthy lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of stroke, IS and ICH among individuals with diabetes.