CHANGES IN CORONARY HEART DISEASE RISK FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INCREASED TREADMILL TIME IN 753 MEN

Blair, S. N. (Institute for Aerobics Research, Dallas, TX 75230), K. H. Cooper, L. W. Gibbons, L. R. Gettman, S. Lewis and N. Goodyear. Changes in coronary heart disease risk factors associated with increased treadmill time in 753 men. Am J Epidemiol 1983; 118: 352–9. Associations between changes in treadmill time and changes in coronary heart disease risk factors were studied in 753 middle-aged men seen between 1978–1981 at the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas. Men were free of known disease at baseline. Significant increases (p < 0.01) in exercise habits and treadmill time were seen over the course of the study; average follow-up was 1.6 years. In bivariate analyses, increases in treadmill time and weight loss were associated with improvements (p < 0.01) in risk factors. Multiple regression models were calculated for several risk factors with age, length of follow-up, change in weight, and change in treadmill time as independent variables. After controlling for confounding, increase in treadmill time was independently associated with decreases in the total cholesterol/high density lipoprotein-choles-terol ratio (p < 0.01) and serum uric acid (p < 0.05). High density lipoprotein-cholesterol rose with increase in treadmill time (p < 0.05).