Prevention & lipidsCohort study
Associations of “Weekend Warrior” Physical Activity With Incident Disease and Cardiometabolic Health
- Prospective cohort study
- accelerometer-measured physical activity
- multiplicity-corrected P value thresholds
- Models adjusted for multiple baseline clinical factors
Authors' conclusion
Achievement of measured physical activity volumes consistent with guideline recommendations is associated with lower risk for >200 diseases, with prominent effects on cardiometabolic conditions. Associations appear similar whether physical activity follows a weekend warrior pattern or is spread more evenly throughout the week.
Study context
- Population
- UK Biobank participants (62±8 years; 56% women) who wore an accelerometer for 1 week, June 2013–December 2015UK Biobank
- Participants
- 89,573 participants
- Exposure
- Weekend warrior and regular activity vs inactive
- Outcome
- Incidence of 678 conditions
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Incident disease (678 conditions)
- Weekend warrior vs regular compared directly: no conditions for which effects differed significantly
- Weekend warrior vs Inactive: CI 0.35–0.89
- Regular vs Inactive: CI 0.41–0.88
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | HR (95% CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incident hypertension — Weekend warrior vs Inactive | 0.77 (0.73–0.80) | P = 1.2×10-27 | |
| Incident hypertension — Regular vs Inactive | 0.72 (0.68–0.77) | P = 4.5×10-28 | |
| Diabetes — Weekend warrior vs Inactive | 0.57 (0.51–0.62) | P = 3.9×10-32 | |
| Diabetes — Regular vs Inactive | 0.54 (0.48–0.60) | P = 8.7×10-26 | |
| Obesity — Weekend warrior vs Inactive | 0.55 (0.50–0.60) | P = 2.4×10-43 | |
| Obesity — Regular vs Inactive | 0.44 (0.40–0.50) | P = 9.6×10-47 | |
| Sleep apnea — Weekend warrior vs Inactive | 0.57 (0.48–0.69) | P = 1.6×10-9 | |
| Sleep apnea — Regular vs Inactive | 0.49 (0.39–0.62) | P = 7.4×10-10 | |
| 0.20.5125Hazard ratio (log scale) |
Activity thresholded at sample median (≥230.4 minutes MVPA/week)
- Observations similar
Original publication
Associations of “Weekend Warrior” Physical Activity With Incident Disease and Cardiometabolic Health. Circulation. Published 26 September 2024. doi:10.1161/circulationaha.124.068669
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it