  Background The incidence of stroke places a heavy burden on both society and
individuals. Activity is closely related to cardiovascular health. This study
aimed to investigate the relationship between the varying domains of PA, like
occupation-related Physical Activity (OPA), transportation-related Physical
Activity (TPA), leisure-time Physical Activity (LTPA), and Sedentary Activity
(SA) with stroke. Methods Our analysis included 30,400 participants aged 20+
years from 2007 to 2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES). Stroke was identified based on the participant's self-reported
diagnoses from previous medical consultations, and PA and SA were
self-reported. Multivariable logistic and restricted cubic spline models were
used to assess the associations. Results Participants achieving PA guidelines
(performing PA more than 150 min/week) were 35.7% less likely to have a stroke
based on both the total PA (odds ratio [OR] 0.643, 95% confidence interval [CI]
0.523-0.790) and LTPA (OR 0.643, 95% CI 0.514-0.805), while OPA or TPA did not
demonstrate lower stroke risk. Furthermore, participants with less than 7.5
h/day SA levels were 21.6% (OR 0.784, 95% CI 0.665-0.925) less likely to have a
stroke. The intensities of total PA and LTPA exhibited nonlinear U-shaped
associations with stroke risk. In contrast, those of OPA and TPA showed
negative linear associations, while SA intensities were positively linearly
correlated with stroke risk. Conclusions LTPA, but not OPA or TPA, was
associated with a lower risk of stroke at any amount, suggesting that
significant cardiovascular health would benefit from increased PA.
Additionally, the positive association between SA and stroke indicated that
prolonged sitting was detrimental to cardiovascular health. Overall, increased
PA within a reasonable range reduces the risk of stroke, while increased SA
elevates it.
