Stair use and risk of incident rheumatic and non-rheumatic valvular heart disease: a cohort study from the UK biobank.

Background: This study aims to comprehensively investigate the association between stair climbing and risk of incident valvular heart disease (VHD) and its subtypes. Methods: Participants with available measurements of stair climbing at baseline from 2006 to 2010 were included from the UK Biobank study. Stair climbing data was collected through touchscreen questionnaire. The primary outcome was new-onset VHD, which was defined using ICD-10 code. Incident VHD was followed till March 1st, 2022. Cox models were used to assess the association between stair climbing and VHD. Results: A total of 488,964 participants (mean age 56.5 years) were included in the present study. During a median follow-up time of 13.0 years, 17,494 (3.6%) participants experienced new-onset VHD. After adjustments, climbing 10-50, 60-100, 110-150 and ≥160 steps of stairs per day were associated with significant reduced VHD risks of 12%, 15%, 22%, and 20%, respectively ( Conclusions: In this large population-based cohort study, the number of climbed stairs was independently associated with decreased risk of new-onset VHD. Findings suggest that promoting regular stair climbing could be a potential target for preventive interventions of VHD onset.