Changes in physical fitness and changes in mortality Export

@article{citeulike:3057763, abstract = {SummaryBackground Point estimates of physical fitness give important information on the risk of death in healthy people, but there is little information available on effects of sequential changes in physical fitness on mortality. We studied this latter aspect in healthy middle-aged men over a total follow-up period of 22 years.Methods 2014 healthy men aged 40-60 years had a bicycle exercise test and clinical examination, and completed a questionnaire in 1972-75 (survey 1). This was repeated for 1756 (91\%) of 1932 men still alive by Dec 31, 1982 (survey 2). The exercise scores were adjusted for age. The change in exercise scores between surveys was divided into quartiles (Q1=least fit, Q4=fittest). An adjusted Cox's proportional hazards model was used to study the association between changes in physical fitness and mortality, with the Q1 men used as controls.Findings By Dec 31, 1994, 238 (17\%) of the 1428 men had died, 120 from cardiovascular causes. There were 37 deaths in the Q4 group (19 cardiovascular); their relative risks of death were 0·45 (95\% CI 0·29-0·69) for any cause and 0·47 (0·26-0·86) for cardiovascular causes. There was a graded, inverse relation between changes in physical fitness and mortality irrespective of physical fitness status at survey 1.Interpretation Change in physical fitness in healthy middle-aged men is a strong predictor of mortality. Even small improvements in physical fitness are associated with a significantly lowered risk of death. If confirmed, these findings should be used to influence public health policy.}, author = {Erikssen, Gunnar and Liest{\o}l, Knut and Bj{\o}rnholt, J{\o}rgen and Thaulow, Erok and Sandvik, Leiv and Erikssen, Jan}, citeulike-article-id = {3057763}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(98)02268-5}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6T1B-3TWYNTV-3/1/5e3fb45a0e4f1710c6f4458d31a9e5f6}, day = {5}, doi = {10.1016/S0140-6736(98)02268-5}, journal = {The Lancet}, keywords = {cardiovascular\_risk, change, health, highly\_cited, medicine, norwegian, public\_health}, month = {September}, number = {9130}, pages = {759--762}, posted-at = {2008-07-29 22:06:22}, priority = {2}, title = {Changes in physical fitness and changes in mortality}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(98)02268-5}, volume = {352}, year = {1998} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3057763 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3057763 N2 - SummaryBackground Point estimates of physical fitness give important information on the risk of death in healthy people, but there is little information available on effects of sequential changes in physical fitness on mortality. We studied this latter aspect in healthy middle-aged men over a total follow-up period of 22 years.Methods 2014 healthy men aged 40-60 years had a bicycle exercise test and clinical examination, and completed a questionnaire in 1972-75 (survey 1). This was repeated for 1756 (91%) of 1932 men still alive by Dec 31, 1982 (survey 2). The exercise scores were adjusted for age. The change in exercise scores between surveys was divided into quartiles (Q1=least fit, Q4=fittest). An adjusted Cox's proportional hazards model was used to study the association between changes in physical fitness and mortality, with the Q1 men used as controls.Findings By Dec 31, 1994, 238 (17%) of the 1428 men had died, 120 from cardiovascular causes. There were 37 deaths in the Q4 group (19 cardiovascular); their relative risks of death were 0·45 (95% CI 0·29-0·69) for any cause and 0·47 (0·26-0·86) for cardiovascular causes. There was a graded, inverse relation between changes in physical fitness and mortality irrespective of physical fitness status at survey 1.Interpretation Change in physical fitness in healthy middle-aged men is a strong predictor of mortality. Even small improvements in physical fitness are associated with a significantly lowered risk of death. If confirmed, these findings should be used to influence public health policy. IS - 9130 JF - The Lancet EP - 762 TI - Changes in physical fitness and changes in mortality VL - 352 SP - 759 KW - cardiovascular_risk KW - change KW - health KW - highly_cited KW - medicine KW - norwegian KW - public_health AU - Erikssen, Gunnar AU - Liestøl, Knut AU - Bjørnholt, Jørgen AU - Thaulow, Erok AU - Sandvik, Leiv AU - Erikssen, Jan PY - 1998/09/05/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(98)02268-5 ER -