Faster Walking Pace Cuts Risk for Cardiac Arrhythmias
FRIDAY, April 25, 2025 -- Average and brisk walking pace are associated with a decreased risk for cardiac arrhythmias, according to a study published online April 15 in Heart.
Pei Qin, Ph.D., from the University of Glasgow in the United Kingdom, and colleagues assessed associations between self-reported and accelerometer-measured walking pace and incident cardiac arrhythmias. The analysis included self-reported data for 420,925 U.K. Biobank participants and accelerometer data for 81,956 participants.
The researchers found that compared with slow walking pace (<3 miles per hour), average and brisk walking pace (3 to 4 miles per hour and >4 miles per hour, respectively) were associated with significantly lower risks for all cardiac arrhythmias (hazard ratio [HR], 0.65 and 0.57, respectively), atrial fibrillation (HR, 0.62 and 0.54, respectively), and other arrhythmias (HR, 0.69 and 0.61, respectively). Just over one-third of the association between walking pace and all arrhythmias (36.0 percent) was mediated by metabolic and inflammatory markers. Associations were even stronger for women, those aged younger than 60 years, those with a body mass index <30, those with hypertension, and those with two or more long-term conditions.
"These new findings reinforce the promotion of faster walking pace in physical activity recommendations that walking at a brisk pace may have a role in secondary, as well as primary, prevention of cardiac arrhythmias, and provide evidence of higher-risk groups to target," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
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