UK Biobank Physical Activity and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Incidence

293,578 UK Biobank participants were tracked to analyze the relationship between self-reported physical activity intensity and the risk of developing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Author Yitian Wei published this prospective cohort study data on figshare in May 2026. The results indicate a protective effect of higher total physical activity against Crohn's disease, while the association with ulcerative colitis appears more nuanced.

Use Cases

• Modeling the association between physical activity intensity and Crohn's disease risk based on multivariable Cox regression results.
• Investigating non-linear dose-response relationships between activity levels and ulcerative colitis using restricted cubic spline analysis.
• Visualizing disease progression over time for different activity cohorts using cumulative event curves.
• Assessing the potential for tailored exercise recommendations in IBD prevention strategies based on intensity-dependent findings.

Strengths

• Large-scale prospective cohort of 293,578 participants from the UK Biobank.
• Incident IBD cases were identified through linked hospital admission and death registry records, suggesting robust outcome ascertainment.
• Analysis includes multivariable Cox regression, restricted cubic splines, and cumulative event curves, indicating a detailed methodological approach.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific analytical needs.
• Data relies on self-reported physical activity, which may introduce measurement bias.

Provenance

Source

UK Biobank

Collection Method

Prospective cohort study analyzing self-reported physical activity and linked hospital/death registry records.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-14 05:42:19; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United Kingdom