Climbing stairs is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease

Climbing stairs is a form of physical activity that has proven benefits for cardiovascular health. Studies have shown that climbing stairs is associated with a reduced risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome, atrial fibrillation, and all-cause mortality.

In a prospective study, researchers assessed whether there was an association between stair climbing intensity and the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). The study of 458,860 participants from the UK Biobank cohort collected sociodemographic, lifestyle, and stair climbing frequency and quantity. During the 12.5 years of follow-up, there were 39,043 cases of ASCVD, 30,718 diagnoses of coronary heart disease, and 10,521 ischemic strokes. Information on stair climbing intensity was collected using questionnaires at the beginning of the study and 5 years later. Compared with people who did not climb any stairs, those who climbed stairs more than 5 times a day (about 50 steps) had an approximately 20% reduced risk of ASCVD. There was a dose-response relationship: 1-5 climbs/day (10-50 steps/day) reduced the risk of ASCVD by 3%, 6-10 climbs (60-100 steps/day) by 16%, 11-15 climbs (110-150 steps/day) by 22%, and 16-20 (160-200 steps/day) by 23%. Participants who climbed more than 5 stairs per day at the start of the study but stopped doing so 5 years later had a 32% higher risk of ASCVD, compared with people who did not climb any stairs.

The Suita Longitudinal Study of 7,282 residents of Suita City (Osaka Prefecture, Japan) aged 30 to 84 years indicates that regular use of stairs was associated with a lower risk of ASCVD, atrial fibrillation, and modifiable cardiovascular risk factors, including obesity, smoking, physical inactivity, and stress. In this Japanese study, using stairs instead of escalators or elevators more than 60% of the time was associated with a 31% lower risk of developing atrial fibrillation.

According to another study of 451,699 participants from the UK Biobank, climbing 110 to 150 stairs daily was associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, particularly in people with a low genetic predisposition to the disease. The Dutch Famine Birth Cohort Study longitudinal study of 782 participants indicates that not climbing stairs daily is associated with a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome.

Climbing stairs is a type of exercise that benefits cardiovascular health and costs nothing, requires no equipment, and is easy to incorporate into a daily routine. People who have multiple cardiovascular risk factors should especially be encouraged to climb stairs every day.