Background: No study has examined the association between television (TV) viewing time and mortality from stroke and coronary artery disease (CAD) in Japanese.
Methods and results: A total of 35,959 men and 49,940 women aged 40-79 years without a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer were followed from 1988-1990 until 2009. During 19.2 median years of follow-up, there were 2,553 deaths from stroke, 1,206 from CAD and 5,835 from total CVD. Compared with viewing TV for <2 h/day, mortality from stroke, CAD and total CVD were higher for ≥6 h/day of TV viewing. The multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) for ≥6 h/day of TV viewing were 1.15 (95% confidence interval: 0.96-1.37) for stroke, 1.33 (1.03-1.72) for CAD and 1.19 (1.06-1.34) for total CVD. The corresponding HRs for each 1-h/day increment in TV viewing time were 1.01 (0.99-1.04), 1.04 (1.01-1.08) and 1.02 (1.01-1.04), respectively. The excess risk of mortality from CAD and total CVD was somewhat attenuated after further adjustment for potential mediators such as history of hypertension and diabetes: the multivariable HRs for ≥6 h/day of TV viewing were 1.24 (0.96-1.61) and 1.14 (1.02-1.28). The corresponding HRs for each 1-h/day increment in TV viewing time were 1.03 (1.00-1.07) and 1.01 (1.00-1.03).
Conclusions: Prolonged TV viewing was associated with a small but significant increase in mortality from CAD and total CVD in Japanese.