Article Text
Abstract
Self-rated health (SRH) and cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) are independent risk factors for all-cause mortality. The purpose of this report is to examine the single and joint effects of these exposures on mortality risk. The study included 18 488 men who completed a health survey, clinical examination and a maximal exercise treadmill test during 1987–2003. Cox regression analysis was used to quantify the associations of SRH and fitness with all-cause mortality. There were 262 deaths during 17 years of follow-up. There was a significant inverse trend (ptrend <0.05) for mortality across SRH categories after adjustment for age, examination year, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, abnormal ECG, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. Adjustment for fitness attenuated the association (p value =0.09). The authors also observed an inverse association between fitness and mortality after controlling for the same covariates and SRH (ptrend = 0.006). The combined analysis of SRH and fitness showed that fit men with good or excellent SRH had a 58% lower risk of mortality than their counterparts. SRH and fitness were both associated with all-cause mortality in men. Fit men with good or excellent SRH live longer than unfit men with poor or fair SRH.
Statistics from Altmetric.com
Footnotes
-
Funding This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants AG06945, HL62508, R21 DK088195 (to XS from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), K05 CA136975 (to JRH from the Cancer Training Branch of the National Cancer Institute) and an unrestricted research grant from The Coca-Cola Company.
-
Competing interests None.
-
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.