Cardiorespiratory fitness may have an inverse dose-response relationship with adverse outcomes

1. This study demonstrated an inverse dose-response association between cardiorespiratory fitness with all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality.

2. Per one metabolic equivalent increase in CRF, there was a decrease of 12%, 13% and 7% in all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality respectively.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) reflects the body’s ability to transport oxygen from the atmosphere to the mitochondria during exercise and is considered to reflect total body health. The literature suggests an association between CRF and several health outcomes; however, none have been updated recently. Therefore, the objective of the present meta-analysis was to assess the qualitative and quantitative associations between CRF and all-cause, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer mortality in healthy patients.

Of 27,360 records, 34 studies were included from database inception to December 2019. There were 625,400 participants and 34,734 outcomes. Studies were included if they investigated the association between CRF and all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality. Studies were excluded if study participants had an underlying disease. CRF was evaluated by an exercise stress test. Generalized least-squares regression models were used to assess the quantitative relation of CRF with outcomes.

Results demonstrated an inverse dose-response association between CRF with all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality. Furthermore, per one metabolic equivalent increase in CRF, there was a decrease of 12%, 13% and 7% in all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality respectively. However, this study was limited by the high heterogeneity found in the studies. Nonetheless, this meta-analysis represents the first to quantify the dose-response relationship between CRF with all-cause, CVD and cancer mortality which may help encourage public health recommendations to increase CRF.

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Click to read the study in British Journal of Sports Medicine

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