In 750,302 US veterans, mortality fell with fitness at every age, including the 70s and 80s
Does fitness still matter for mortality in your 80s?
The finding
The lowest risk came at about 14.0 METs: hazard ratio 0.24 (0.23–0.25) in men and 0.23 (0.17–0.29) in women. The least fit (20th percentile) against the extremely fit: HR 4.09 (3.90–4.20).
- Authors
- Kokkinos P, Faselis C, Samuel IBH, et al.
- Published
- Journal of the American College of Cardiology 80(6):598–609 · 2022
- Evidence
- Read in the primary source; numbers checked.
- Source
- doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.05.031
How it was studied
Cohort of veterans aged 30–95 (mean 61.3) with a standardised treadmill test, including 110,637 people in their 70s, 26,989 in their 80s and 45,232 women. Median follow-up 10.2 years, 174,807 deaths.
The numbers
There was no rise in risk at extreme fitness.
What it does not show
Observational. Mostly men (women about 6%). Peak METs were estimated from treadmill workload.
What Longstanding does with it
This is why the VO₂max line runs all the way to 85: the association does not stop at 70.