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Genome-wide association study of self-reported walking pace suggests beneficial effects of brisk walking on health and survival

Timmins, Iain R. ; Zaccardi, Francesco ; Nelson, Christopher P. ; Franks, Paul LU ; Yates, Thomas and Dudbridge, Frank (2020) In Communications Biology 3(1).
Abstract

Walking is a simple form of exercise, widely promoted for its health benefits. Self-reported walking pace has been associated with a range of cardiorespiratory and cancer outcomes, and is a strong predictor of mortality. Here we perform a genome-wide association study of self-reported walking pace in 450,967 European ancestry UK Biobank participants. We identify 70 independent associated loci (P < 5 × 10−8), 11 of which are novel. We estimate the SNP-based heritability as 13.2% (s.e. = 0.21%), reducing to 8.9% (s.e. = 0.17%) with adjustment for body mass index. Significant genetic correlations are observed with cardiometabolic, respiratory and psychiatric traits, educational attainment and all-cause mortality. Mendelian... (More)

Walking is a simple form of exercise, widely promoted for its health benefits. Self-reported walking pace has been associated with a range of cardiorespiratory and cancer outcomes, and is a strong predictor of mortality. Here we perform a genome-wide association study of self-reported walking pace in 450,967 European ancestry UK Biobank participants. We identify 70 independent associated loci (P < 5 × 10−8), 11 of which are novel. We estimate the SNP-based heritability as 13.2% (s.e. = 0.21%), reducing to 8.9% (s.e. = 0.17%) with adjustment for body mass index. Significant genetic correlations are observed with cardiometabolic, respiratory and psychiatric traits, educational attainment and all-cause mortality. Mendelian randomization analyses suggest a potential causal link of increasing walking pace with a lower cardiometabolic risk profile. Given its low heritability and simple measurement, these findings suggest that self-reported walking pace is a pragmatic target for interventions aiming for general benefits on health.

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author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Communications Biology
volume
3
issue
1
article number
634
publisher
Nature Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:33128006
  • scopus:85094862025
ISSN
2399-3642
DOI
10.1038/s42003-020-01357-7
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
bc53bcb9-051e-4356-a598-6ce597bfb76b
date added to LUP
2020-11-13 09:28:35
date last changed
2024-04-17 18:47:31
@article{bc53bcb9-051e-4356-a598-6ce597bfb76b,
  abstract     = {{<p>Walking is a simple form of exercise, widely promoted for its health benefits. Self-reported walking pace has been associated with a range of cardiorespiratory and cancer outcomes, and is a strong predictor of mortality. Here we perform a genome-wide association study of self-reported walking pace in 450,967 European ancestry UK Biobank participants. We identify 70 independent associated loci (P &lt; 5 × 10<sup>−8</sup>), 11 of which are novel. We estimate the SNP-based heritability as 13.2% (s.e. = 0.21%), reducing to 8.9% (s.e. = 0.17%) with adjustment for body mass index. Significant genetic correlations are observed with cardiometabolic, respiratory and psychiatric traits, educational attainment and all-cause mortality. Mendelian randomization analyses suggest a potential causal link of increasing walking pace with a lower cardiometabolic risk profile. Given its low heritability and simple measurement, these findings suggest that self-reported walking pace is a pragmatic target for interventions aiming for general benefits on health.</p>}},
  author       = {{Timmins, Iain R. and Zaccardi, Francesco and Nelson, Christopher P. and Franks, Paul and Yates, Thomas and Dudbridge, Frank}},
  issn         = {{2399-3642}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{Nature Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{Communications Biology}},
  title        = {{Genome-wide association study of self-reported walking pace suggests beneficial effects of brisk walking on health and survival}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-01357-7}},
  doi          = {{10.1038/s42003-020-01357-7}},
  volume       = {{3}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}