A2 Review article, Literature review, Systematic review
Physical activity and risk of venous thromboembolism : systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies (2020)

Kunutsor, S. K., Mäkikallio, T. H., Seidu, S., de Araújo, C. G. S., Dey, R. S., Blom, A. W., & Laukkanen, J. A. (2020). Physical activity and risk of venous thromboembolism : systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. European Journal of Epidemiology, 35(5), 431-442. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00579-2

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kunutsor, Setor K.; Mäkikallio, Timo H.; Seidu, Samuel; de Araújo, Claudio Gil Soares; Dey, Richard S.; Blom, Ashley W.; Laukkanen, Jari A.

Journal or series: European Journal of Epidemiology

ISSN: 0393-2990

eISSN: 1573-7284

Publication year: 2020

Volume: 35

Issue number: 5

Pages range: 431-442

Publisher: Springer

Publication country: Netherlands

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-019-00579-2

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Partially open access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/69328

Abstract

The inverse association between physical activity and arterial thrombotic disease is well established. Evidence on the association between physical activity and venous thromboembolism (VTE) is divergent. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of published observational prospective cohort studies evaluating the associations of physical activity with VTE risk. MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, and manual search of relevant bibliographies were systematically searched until 26 February 2019. Extracted relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the maximum versus minimal amount of physical activity groups were pooled using random effects meta-analysis. Twelve articles based on 14 unique prospective cohort studies comprising of 1,286,295 participants and 23,753 VTE events were eligible. The pooled fully-adjusted RR (95% CI) of VTE comparing the most physically active versus the least physically active groups was 0.87 (0.79–0.95). In pooled analysis of 10 studies (288,043 participants and 7069 VTE events) that reported risk estimates not adjusted for body mass index (BMI), the RR (95% CI) of VTE was 0.81 (0.70–0.93). The associations did not vary by geographical location, age, sex, BMI, and methodological quality of studies. There was no evidence of publication bias among contributing studies. Pooled observational prospective cohort studies support an association between regular physical activity and low incidence of VTE. The relationship does not appear to be mediated or confounded by BMI.

Keywords: physical activity; physical training; cardiovascular diseases; thrombosis; cohort study; risk factors; meta-analysis

Free keywords: physical activity; venous thromboembolism; cohort study; risk factor; systematic review; meta-analysis

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2020

JUFO rating: 2