Association between physical activity score and incident hypertension among Chinese adults aged 65 years and older: a national prospective cohort study.

Existing evidence on the association between physical activity and risk of incident hypertension is limited. This study aims to explore the relationship between physical activity and risk of incident hypertension in Chinese older adults. We analyzed the data of 3923 participants (median age 87 years) from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey. Cox proportional-hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association of physical activity with risk of incident hypertension. Subgroup analyses of this association were conducted by age and sex. During a median follow-up of 2.7 years, 1479 participants developed incident hypertension. A higher physical activity score was associated with a lower risk of incident hypertension. Compared with the low-score group, the high-score group had a 23% lower risk of incident hypertension in the fully adjusted model (HR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.66-0.91). Each standard deviation increment in the physical activity score was associated with a 9% lower risk of incident hypertension (HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.86-0.97; P for trend = 0.005). Subgroup analyses showed that similar associations were observed in participants aged ≥80 years and men. Higher daily physical activity is an independent protective factor for hypertension prevention in Chinese older adults. Promoting accessible daily physical activities may be of great significance in reducing the risk of incident hypertension in this population.