Published online Aug 26, 2016. doi: 10.4330/wjc.v8.i8.464
Peer-review started: May 24, 2016
First decision: June 17, 2016
Revised: June 18, 2016
Accepted: July 11, 2016
Article in press: July 13, 2016
Published online: August 26, 2016
Processing time: 90 Days and 21.5 Hours
To investigate the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events in a cohort of large voluntary arm forces in Taiwan.
The cardiorespiratory fitness and hospitalization events in armed forces (CHIEF) is a retrospective cohort consisting of more than 4000 professional military members aged 18-50 years in Eastern Taiwan. All participants received history taking, physical examination, chest radiography, 12-lead electrocardiography, blood tests for cell counts and fasting glucose, lipid profiles, uric acid, renal function and liver function in the Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital during 2014. In addition, participants were required to undergo two indoor resistant exercise tests including 2-min push-up and 2-min sit-up, both scored by infrared sensing, and one outdoor endurance 3000-m none weight-bearing running test, the main indicator of cardiorespiratory fitness in the Military Physical Training and Testing Center in Eastern Taiwan in 2014.
Hospitalization events for cardiovascular disease, acute kidney injury, rhabdomyolysis, severe infectious disease, acute psychiatric illness, diabetes, orthopedic surgery and mortality will be identified in the National Insurance Research Database for 10 years.
CHIEF will be among the largest Eastern Asian armed forces cohort, in which physical status was strictly evaluated to follow up the hospitalization events for severe illness.
Core tip: Whether rigorous physical trainings including endurance and resistance exercises for professional young adults in armed forces associated with well or poor cardiovascular outcomes in their middle ages is unknown. In addition, several unhealthy factors such as cigarette smoking and depressive mood are prevalent among arm forces, which may affect the physical performance and increase the risk of hospitalization for severe illness. In this case, we will investigate the association of cardiorespiratory fitness with hospitalization events in a retrospective armed forces cohort consisting of about 4000 professional military members aged 18-50 years in Eastern Taiwan for more than 10 years.