Exercise Capacity and Mortality in Older Men
- 24 August 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Circulation
- Vol. 122 (8), 790-797
- https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.110.938852
Abstract
Background— Epidemiological findings, based largely on middle-aged populations, support an inverse and independent association between exercise capacity and mortality risk. The information available in older individuals is limited. Methods and Results— Between 1986 and 2008, we assessed the association between exercise capacity and all-cause mortality in 5314 male veterans aged 65 to 92 years (mean±SD, 71.4±5.0 years) who completed an exercise test at the Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in Washington, DC, and Palo Alto, Calif. We established fitness categories based on peak metabolic equivalents (METs) achieved. During a median 8.1 years of follow-up (range, 0.1 to 25.3), there were 2137 deaths. Baseline exercise capacity was 6.3±2.4 METs among survivors and 5.3±2.0 METs in those who died (P9 METs, regardless of age. Unfit individuals who improved their fitness status with serial testing had a 35% lower mortality risk (hazard ratio=0.65; confidence interval, 0.46 to 0.93) compared with those who remained unfit. Conclusions— Exercise capacity is an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in older men. The relationship is inverse and graded, with most survival benefits achieved in those with an exercise capacity >5 METs. Survival improved significantly when unfit individuals became fit.This publication has 23 references indexed in Scilit:
- Physical Activity, Function, and Longevity Among the Very OldArchives of Internal Medicine, 2009
- Fitness and Fatness as Mortality Predictors in Healthy Older Men: The Veterans Exercise Testing StudyThe Journals of Gerontology, Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, 2009
- Exercise Capacity and Mortality in Black and White MenCirculation, 2008
- PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND BEHAVIOR IN THE ELDERLY: A PILOT STUDYArchives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 2004
- Changes in Leisure-time Physical Activity and Risk of Death: An Observational Study of 7,000 Men and WomenAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 2003
- Walking Compared with Vigorous Exercise for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Events in WomenThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2002
- Exercise Capacity and Mortality among Men Referred for Exercise TestingThe New England Journal of Medicine, 2002
- Prognostic Value of Treadmill Exercise Testing in Elderly PersonsAnnals of Internal Medicine, 2000
- A Prospective Study of Walking as Compared with Vigorous Exercise in the Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease in WomenThe New England Journal of Medicine, 1999
- The Association of Changes in Physical-Activity Level and Other Lifestyle Characteristics with Mortality among MenThe New England Journal of Medicine, 1993