Joint associations of sauna bathing and cardiorespiratory fitness on cardiovascular and all-cause mortality risk: a long-term prospective cohort study
Kunutsor SK, Khan H, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA
Annals of medicine · 42 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Cohort study (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Clinical events such as disease or death
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Nonprofit
- Foundation for Cardiovascular Research
- University or hospital
- Itä-Suomen Yliopisto
- Nonprofit
- Sydäntutkimussäätiö
- Nonprofit
- Finnish Foundation for Cardiovascular Research
- Nonprofit
- SydäntutkimussäätiÃ.
Based on 5 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2017-10-03 · Ann Med · vol. 50 · issue 2 · pp. 139–146
- Publisher
- Informa
- Cited
- 58 citations · more than 89% of similar papers · 2.4× the field average
- References
- 43 works
- Access
- Free to read
- Research areas
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements · Body Contouring and Surgery
- Keywords
- Cardiorespiratory fitness, Medicine, Hazard ratio, Prospective cohort study, Internal medicine, Cohort study, Cardiology, Cohort, Confidence interval
- MeSH
- humans, cardiovascular diseases, steam bath, cause of death, risk factors, follow-up studies, prospective studies, risk reduction behavior, adult, middle aged, finland, male, kaplan-meier estimate, cardiorespiratory fitness
4 authors
From GB, US, FI
- Setor K. Kunutsor · correspondingSouthmead Hospital; University of Bristol
- Hassan KhanEmory University
- Tanjaniina LaukkanenUniversity of Eastern Finland
- Jari A. LaukkanenUniversity of Eastern Finland; Central Finland Health Care District
Abstract
Purpose
We aimed to evaluate the joint impact of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and frequency of sauna bathing (FSB) on the risk of cardiovascular and all-cause mortality.
Design
CRF measured by respiratory gas analyses and sauna exposure were assessed at baseline in a prospective study of 2277 men. CRF was categorized as low and high (median cut-offs) and FSB as low and high (≤2 and 3-7 sessions/week, respectively).
Results
During a median follow-up of 26.1 years, 520 cardiovascular and 1124 all-cause deaths occurred. Comparing high versus low CRF, the multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) 95% CIs for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality were 0.51 (0.41-0.63) and 0.65 (0.57-0.75), respectively. Comparing high versus low FSB, the corresponding HRs were 0.74 (0.59-0.94) and 0.84 (0.72-0.97), respectively. Compared to low CRF & low FSB, the HRs of CVD mortality for high CRF & high FSB; high CRF & low FSB; and low CRF & high FSB were 0.42 (0.28-0.62), 0.50 (0.39-0.63) and 0.72 (0.54-0.97), respectively. For all-cause mortality, the corresponding HRs were 0.60 (0.48-0.76), 0.63 (0.54-0.74) and 0.78 (0.64-0.96), respectively.
Conclusions
A combination of high CRF and frequent sauna bathing confers stronger long-term protection on mortality outcomes compared with high CRF or high FSB alone. KEY MESSAGES Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and frequency of sauna bathing are independently associated with reduced mortality risk; a combination of good CRF and frequent sauna bathing may confer additional survival benefits. In a population-based prospective cohort study, a combination of high CRF levels and frequent sauna bathing (3-7 sessions per week) was associated with a substantial risk reduction in fatal cardiovascular and all-cause mortality events compared with good CRF or frequent sauna bathing alone. A combination of good fitness levels produced by aerobic exercises and frequent sauna bathing may have added health benefits and confer more protection on the risk of mortality.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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