Association between commuting and cardiovascular disease (CVD): a biomarker-based analysis of cross-sectional cohort data

Understanding how different commuting modes and distances affect cardiovascular health is crucial for evaluating the broader public health impacts of transportation habits, especially as climate change drives shifts towards more sustainable commuting practices. This study utilized UK Biobank data to explore the impact of active and passive commuting modes, along with commuting distance, on cardiovascular disease (CVD)-related biomarkers as indicators of health outcomes. The analysis involved logistic regression to assess the risk of biomarkers falling outside predefined healthy ranges and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine the relationship between commuting practices and a composite CVD index.

The main outcome focused on shifts from low to high-risk levels in eight cardiovascular biomarkers: total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, apolipoprotein A and B, C-reactive protein, and lipoprotein (a). Results indicated a small negative correlation between weekly commuting distance and the composite CVD biomarker risk index. Although active commuting modes like cycling and walking showed positive associations with some CVD biomarkers, estimates varied depending on covariate adjustments. In contrast, long-distance car commuting was negatively associated with CVD-related biomarkers. Despite its limitations, this biomarker-based evidence provides a more robust assessment of commuting’s impact on cardiovascular health compared to distant outcomes like CVD mortality, due to reduced susceptibility to residual confounding.