Associations of steps per day and step intensity with the risk of diabetes: the Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)

• Published in: The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity 2022-04, Vol.19 (1), p.46-46, Article 46
• Main Authors: Cuthbertson, Carmen C, Moore, Christopher C, Sotres-Alvarez, Daniela, Heiss, Gerardo, Isasi, Carmen R, Mossavar-Rahmani, Yasmin, Carlson, Jordan A, Gallo, Linda C, Llabre, Maria M, Garcia-Bedoya, Olga L, Farelo, David Goldsztajn, Evenson, Kelly R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accelerometers; Adult; Cohort; Diabetes; Diabetes Mellitus - epidemiology; Exercise; Fasting; Female; Glucose; Health aspects; Health care; Hispanic Americans; Hispanic or Latino; Hispanic/Latino; Humans; Insulin resistance; Laboratories; Male; Methods; Mortality; Obesity; Physical activity; Population; Prevention; Prospective Studies; Public Health; Risk Factors; Step cadence; Steps per day; Walking
• ISSN: 1479-5868; 1479-5868
• DOI: 10.1186/s12966-022-01284-2

Higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity have been associated with a lower risk of diabetes, but less is known about how daily step counts (steps/day) are associated with diabetes risk. Therefore, we examined the association of steps/day and step intensity with incident diabetes. We included 6634 adults from the population-based prospective cohort Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) (2008-2017). Cox proportional hazard models that accounted for complex survey design and sampling weights were used to estimate the association of baseline accelerometer-assessed steps/day and step intensity with 6-year risk of incident diabetes as hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). We further examined whether the percent of intense steps at a given accumulation of steps/day was associated with diabetes risk, and if associations were modified by specific cohort characteristics. The average age of cohort members was 39 years and 52% were female. Adults had an average of 8164 steps/day and spent 12 min/day in brisk ambulation (> 100 steps/min). Over 6 years of follow-up, there were 1115 cases of diabetes. There was a suggestive lower risk of diabetes with more steps/day- adults had a 2% lower risk per 1000 steps/day (HR = 0.98 (95% CI 0.95, 1.00)). Inverse associations between average steps/day and diabetes incidence were observed across many cohort characteristics, but most importantly among adults at high risk for diabetes - those who were older, or had obesity or prediabetes. Adults who accumulated 17 min/day in brisk ambulation compared to