Occupational physical activity, all-cause mortality and incidence of cardiovascular diseases: results from three Italian cohorts.

PURPOSE: To examine the association of exposure to Occupational Physical Activity (OPA) with all-cause mortality and incidence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD).

METHODS: The study population was composed of three Italian cohorts: a national cohort of employees participating in the National Health Survey 2005, followed-up until 2014 (ILS 2005), and two urban cohorts of employees resident in Turin at 2001 and 2011 censuses (TLS 2001 and TLS 2011, respectively), both followed-up until 2018. Follow-up was conducted through individual record-linkage with death registries and hospital admissions archives. Exposure to OPA was assigned through an Italian job-exposure matrix (JEM). Relative Risks of both CVD incidence and overall mortality associated with OPA quartiles (IRR) were estimated using Poisson regression models adjusted for socio-demographics and health, and in the national cohort, also for leisure time physical activity, BMI, smoking, diabetes, and hypertension.

RESULTS: Compared to the lowest quartile, the highest OPA quartile was associated in both genders with significantly increased mortality in TLS 2001 (IRR = 1.11 among men, IRR = 1.20 among women) and in TLS 2011 (IRR = 1.27 among men and IRR = 1.73 among women), whereas in the ILS 2005 cohort no association was found. Among women, high OPA was also associated with CVD risk in TLS 2001 and 2011 (IRR = 1.39 and IRR = 1.16 for the highest quartile, respectively), while in the ILS cohort in both genders only the third quartile showed a significantly higher risk.

CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that OPA does not have a beneficial effect on CVD and mortality, but rather suggest that it may produce deleterious health effects.