ArticleBMJ open2021
Fitness, strength and severity of COVID-19: a prospective register study of 1 559 187 Swedish conscripts.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- High BMI and low cardiorespiratory fitness in adolescence are associated with increased risk of severe bacterial infections in adulthood.Journal of internal medicine · 2026Article
- Association of Pre-COVID Fitness With Post-COVID Fitness and Long COVID in the Cooper Center Longitudinal Cohort Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- An Analysis Between Body Composition and Vertigo Post-Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients.International archives of otorhinolaryngology · 2025Article
- Effects of Exercise Rehabilitation on Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Long-COVID-19 Survivors: A Meta-Analysis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Insights from Chilean NCDs Hospitalization Data during COVID-19.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Article
- Body mass index and fitness in late adolescence and risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and overall death after COVID-19.Obesity science & practice · 2024Article
- Cardiorespiratory fitness and BMI measured in youth and 5-year mortality after site-specific cancer diagnoses in men-A population-based cohort study with register linkage.Cancer medicine · 2023Article
- Associations between cardiorespiratory fitness in youth and the incidence of site-specific cancer in men: a cohort study with register linkage.British journal of sports medicine · 2023Article
- Physical fitness level and the risk of severe COVID-19: A systematic review.Sports medicine and health science · 2023Review
- Cardiopulmonary, Functional, Cognitive and Mental Health Outcomes Post-COVID-19, Across the Range of Severity of Acute Illness, in a Physically Active, Working-Age Population.Sports medicine - open · 2023Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on the Cardiovascular Health of Emerging Adults Aged 18-25: Findings From a Scoping Review.CJC pediatric and congenital heart disease · 2023Article
- Review
- COVID-19: Reducing the risk via diet and lifestyle.Journal of integrative medicine · 2023Review
- Change in physical fitness due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in French adolescents: a comparison between two independent large samples from Diagnoform battery.European journal of pediatrics · 2022Article
- Article
- The Swedish military conscription register: opportunities for its use in medical research.European journal of epidemiology · 2022Review
- Estimated Oxygen Consumption with the Abbreviated Method and Its Association with Vaccination and PCR Tests for COVID-19 from Socio-Demographic, Anthropometric, Lifestyle, and Morbidity Outcomes in Chilean Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Observational
- Athletic performance is not affected by SARS-CoV-2.Science & sports · 2022Article
- Resistance Training before, during, and after COVID-19 Infection: What Have We Learned So Far?International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Too hard to die: Exercise training mediates specific and immediate SARS-CoV-2 protection.World journal of virology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo investigate the possible connection between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and muscle strength in early adulthood and severity of COVID-19 later in life.
designProspective registry-based cohort study.
participants1 559 187 Swedish men, undergoing military conscription between 1968 and 2005 at a mean age of 18.3 (SD 0.73) years.
main outcome measuresHospitalisation, intensive care or death due to COVID-19 from March to September 2020, in relation to CRF and muscle strength.
resultsHigh CRF in late adolescence and early adulthood had a protective association with severe COVID-19 later in life with OR (95% CI) 0.76 (0.67 to 0.85) for hospitalisation (n=2 006), 0.61 (0.48 to 0.78) for intensive care (n=445) and 0.56 (0.37 to 0.85) for mortality (n=149), compared with the lowest category of CRF. The association remains unchanged when controlled for body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, chronic diseases and parental education level at baseline, and incident cardiovascular disease before 2020. Moreover, lower muscle strength in late adolescence showed a linear association with a higher risk of all three outcomes when controlled for BMI and height.
conclusionsPhysical fitness at a young age is associated with severity of COVID-19 many years later. This underscores the necessity to increase the general physical fitness of the population to offer protection against future viral pandemics.
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Registered trials
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