The next generation of evidence on cardiovascular disease prevention using device-based assessments of physical behaviour in harmonised pooled cohorts: The Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep consortium (ProPASS)

Physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep - “physical behaviours” – are risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, although our understanding is limited as the large majority of evidence comes from questionnaire-based studies that examined these behaviours separately.

As these are part of the same 24-hour cycle, spending time in one behaviour displaces time in another and behaviours interact; it is therefore important to examine joint, and collective associations of physical behaviours with CVD risk using contemporary approaches.

Our proposal employs state-of-the-art device-measured physical behaviours that capture multiple aspects of physical activity (e.g. type and intensity), posture (e.g. sitting, standing) as well as sleep duration in a unique data resource - Prospective Physical Activity, Sitting and Sleep consortium (ProPASS) that comprises 13 international cohorts and approximately 72,000 participants.

We will use ProPASS to examine the dose-response relationships between physical behaviours and incident CVD and mortality.

We will use both established and novel statistical approaches to understand the independent, joint, and cumulative associations of physical behaviours with CVD risk. Mendelian Randomization will be used to assess causality.

This work will shape the next generation of evidence-based global and national guidelines to improve CVD prevention policy, health surveillance, and interventions.