Potential causal association between leisure sedentary behaviors, physical activity and musculoskeletal health: A Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

BackgroundIncreasing evidence shows that leisure sedentary behaviors (LSB) and physical activity (PA) are associated with various musculoskeletal disorders. However, the causality between LSB/PA and musculoskeletal health remained unknown. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the causal relationships between LSB/PA and lower back pain (LBP), intervertebral disc disorder (IVDD), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and bone mineral density (BMD) by using a two-sample Mendelian randomization method.MethodsThe exposure data were obtained from large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including the PA dataset (self-reported PA, n  =  377,234; accelerometer-assessed PA, n  = 91,084) and LSB dataset (n  =  422,218). The outcome data were derived from the FinnGen LBP dataset (n  =  248,528), FinnGen IVDD dataset (n  =  256,896), BMD GWAS dataset (n  =  56,284), and RA GWAS dataset (n  =  58,284). The causal relationships were estimated with inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, and weighted median methods. Sensitivity analyses were performed with Cochran’s Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, and leave-one-out analysis to estimate the robustness of our findings.ResultsGenetically predicted leisure television watching increased the risk of LBP (OR = 1.68, 95% CI 1.41 to 2.01; P = 8.23×10−9) and IVDD (OR  =  1.62, 95% CI 1.37 to 1.91; P  =  2.13 × 10−8). In addition, this study revealed a potential causal relationship between computer use and a reduced risk of IVDD (OR  = 0.60, 95% CI 0.42 to 0.86; P  =  0.005) and RA (OR  = 0.28, 95% CI 0.13 to 0.60; P  =  0.001).ConclusionsOur results suggest that leisure television watching is a risk factor for LBP and IVDD, whereas leisure computer use may act as a protective factor against IVDD and RA. These findings emphasized the importance of distinguishing between different sedentary behaviors in musculoskeletal disease studies.