Recent meta-analyses agree: each extra MET goes with 11–17% lower mortality, and high fitness roughly halves it
What do the latest meta-analyses say about fitness and death?
The finding
High against low fitness: all-cause mortality around 0.47 (0.39–0.56) in both. Per 1 MET, Lang reports hazard ratios of 0.89 (0.86–0.92) and 0.83 (0.78–0.88), that is 11–17% lower risk.
- Authors
- Han M, Qie R, Shi X, et al.; Lang JJ, Prince SA, Merucci K, et al.
- Published
- British Journal of Sports Medicine 56(13):733–739; 58(10):556–566 · 2022; 2024
- Evidence
- Read in the primary source; numbers checked.
- Source
- doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2023-107849
How it was studied
Han 2022: meta-analysis of 34 cohorts. Lang 2024: an overview of 26 systematic reviews covering more than 20.9 million observations from 199 cohorts.
The numbers
Han 2022, per 1 MET: all-cause RR 0.88 (0.83–0.93), cardiovascular 0.87 (0.83–0.91), cancer 0.93 (0.91–0.96). Lang 2024: incident heart failure per MET, HR 0.82. GRADE certainty in Lang was very low to moderate.
What it does not show
The pooled studies are observational, and Lang overlaps with the earlier meta-analyses. The honest verb is "associated with", not "reduces".
What Longstanding does with it
We use "associated with" on every page, and the app does not convert fitness into years of life.