KAGOSHIMA, JAPAN — Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) can be a good predictor of chronic disease. The problem is the difficulty and impracticability of routinely measuring that in primary care settings.
A new study in the Journal of Clinical Medicine used a novel estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF) algorithm that uses information routinely documented in electronic health care records, however, to predict the development of abnormal blood glucose.1
The study was led by researchers from Kagoshima University Graduate Medical School in Japan and included participation from the VA Palo Alto, CA, Healthcare System.
Included as participants were adults 20-81, 17.8% female, at baseline from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study between 1979 and 2006. The researchers based eCRF on sex, age, body mass index, resting heart rate, resting blood pressure and smoking status. Actual CRF was measured by maximal treadmill testing. The analysis was adjusted for co-variants including age, sex, exam year, waist girth, heavy drinking, smoking and family history of diabetes mellitus and lipid levels.
Results indicated that, of 8,602 participants at risk at baseline, 3,580 (41.6%) developed abnormal blood glucose during an average of 4.9 years follow-up. “The average eCRF of 12.03 ± 1.75 METs was equivalent to the CRF of 12.15 ± 2.40 METs within the 10% equivalence limit,” the authors reported. “In fully adjusted models, the estimated risks were the same (HRs = 0.96), eCRF (95% CIs = 0.93-0.99), and CRF (95% CI of 0.94-0.98). Each 1-MET increase was associated with a 4% reduced risk.”
The authors concluded that higher eCRF is associated with a lower risk of abnormal glucose, adding, “eCRF can be a vital sign used for research and prevention.”
- Sloan RA, Kim Y, Kenyon J, Visentini-Scarzanella M, Sawada SS, Sui X, Lee IM, Myers JN, Lavie CJ. Association between Estimated Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Abnormal Glucose Risk: A Cohort Study. J Clin Med. 2023 Apr 6;12(7):2740. doi: 10.3390/jcm12072740. PMID: 37048823; PMCID: PMC10095416.
