Better Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Associated with Lower Mortality Risk at All Ages

Better cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with lower all-cause mortality in several studies. However, some evidence suggests that excessive physical activity may be detrimental, especially in older adults. To better understand the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and mortality risk across the age spectrum, investigators examined deaths in ≈750,000 U.S. veterans aged 30 to 95 years (94% men), including ≈111,000 in their 70s and 27,000 in their 80s, who had undergone a standardized exercise treadmill test. Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed using peak METs achieved.

During a median follow-up of 10.2 years, after multivariable adjustment, there was an inverse association between cardiorespiratory fitness and mortality acro…