Brief ReportDancing Participation and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: A Pooled Analysis of 11 Population-Based British Cohorts
Introduction
Epidemiologic research has supported an inverse relationship of physical activity (PA)1, 2, 3 and fitness levels4, 5 with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality.6, 7 Previous research tended to focus on quantifying PA risk based on the amount and intensity of activities, with the type of activity often treated as a surrogate for intensity level. As different types of PA challenge musculoskeletal, neurologic, and cardiorespiratory systems differently, and involve different levels of psychosocial or cognitive demands, different types of PA may have differential relationships with health.8
Dance is a multidimensional PA, integrating physical, cognitive, emotional, and social elements. To date, only six cohort studies have examined the benefits of specific activity types, other than walking, in relation to health outcomes, including falls,9, 10 incident fatal and non-fatal coronary heart disease,11 all-cause mortality,12, 13 and dementia.14 One study found that frequent dancing (three or more times/week) was associated with a 76% reduction in dementia risk, whereas the protective effect of walking was lower (53%) and only marginally significant.14 Though dementia and CVD share some similar risk factors, the impact of dance on CVD has never been studied. The aims of this study are to examine: (1) whether dance participation offers a greater protection against CVD mortality than walking; and (2) whether risk reduction associated with dancing is age or sex dependent.
Section snippets
Methods
Participants were drawn from the Health Survey for England (HSE) and Scottish Health Survey—a series of 11 independent British population-based cohorts with harmonized methodologies and baseline examinations undertaken in 1994/1997 (HSE only), 1995 (Scottish Health Survey only), 1998, 1999 (HSE only), 2003, and 2004/2006/2008 (HSE only). Samples were drawn using multistage stratified probability design to give a representative sample of the two United Kingdom countries. More details of the
Results
Among 48,390 eligible respondents, 6.5% reported recreational dancing (n=3,169), higher among women (8.2%) than men (4.5%), and 66.3% of the cohort walked at any intensity (66.5% women, 66.0% men). Compared with non-dancers (Table 1), dancers were younger, of a higher social class, had a lower BMI, and were less likely to have long-standing illnesses and psychological distress. Additionally, dancers reported a higher PA volume, including moderate-intensity walking, and a higher proportion of
Discussion
This research suggests that light-intensity walking or dancing did not reduce CVD mortality risk, but both activities at moderate intensity or above were protective. The risk reduction was greater for moderate-intensity dancing than walking, and possibly stronger for women than men. Additionally, these findings support the independent increases in CVD protection by walking at a brisk or fast pace, irrespective of total PA volume.7, 11
Several hypotheses may explain the superior benefit of
Conclusions
The present findings provide empirical support to the use of “dance as exercise” for preventing CVD deaths.26
Acknowledgments
All authors participated in the conceptualization of this paper. DM advised on analysis and drafted the first manuscript. DD advised on analysis and provided critical comments on all drafts. ES led the analysis and provided critical comments on all drafts. All authors read and approved the final draft. ES had full access to all data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
No financial disclosures were reported by the authors of
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