There is a strong, inverse association between midlife cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and stroke risk in later life independent of baseline and antecedent burden of risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, mellitus, and atrial fibrillation, a recent study found. Researchers studied data on 19,815 individuals who received Medicare coverage from 1999 to 2009, and examined associations between midlife CRF and stroke hospitalization after the age of 65 years. They found:

• Following 129,439 person-years of Medicare follow-up, there were 808 stroke hospitalizations.

• After adjustment for baseline risk factors, higher midlife CRF was associated with a lower risk of stroke hospitalization.

• This association remained unchanged after additional adjustment for burden of Medicare-identified stroke risk factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and atrial fibrillation).

Citation: Pandey A, Patel MR, Willis B, et al. Association between midlife cardiorespiratory fitness and risk of stroke. [Published online ahead of print June 9, 2016]. Stroke. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.011532.