Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38599681›Full record

SynthesisBritish journal of sports medicine2024

Cardiorespiratory fitness is a strong and consistent predictor of morbidity and mortality among adults: an overview of meta-analyses representing over 20.9 million observations from 199 unique cohort studies.

Justin J Lang, Stephanie A Prince, Katherine Merucci, Cristina Cadenas-Sanchez, Jean-Philippe Chaput, Brooklyn J Fraser, Taru Manyanga, Ryan McGrath, Francisco B Ortega, Ben Singh and 1 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in British journal of sports medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07275619 (Normative Data for Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Healthy Adults Using the Queen's College Step Test), which is not on this map. Cited by 130 papers, 17 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
130citing papers in PubMed, 17 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT07275619 enrolling by invitationnot on this mapstarted 2025, after this paper: background citation

Normative Data for Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Healthy Adults Using the Queen's College Step Test

TypeobservationalSponsorRiphah International UniversityRan2025 to 2026Enrolled800ConditionsHealthy Adults
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

130 citing papers in PubMed, 17 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  8. Resistance training for people with stroke.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  9. Combined cardiorespiratory and resistance training for people with stroke.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  10. Guideline
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  13. A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Highlights a Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Telomere Maintenance.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
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  15. The Relationship Between Digit Ratio (2D:4D) and Aspects of Cardiorespiratory Fitness: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2025
    Pooled it
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  17. Guideline
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70 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Justin J LangCentre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada justin.lang@phac-aspc.gc.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1768-319X
Stephanie A PrinceCentre for Surveillance and Applied Research, Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6729-5649
Katherine MerucciHealth Library, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Cristina Cadenas-SanchezDepartment of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada; CIBEROBN, ISCIII, Granada, Andalucía, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4513-9108
Jean-Philippe ChaputSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5607-5736
Brooklyn J FraserAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1752-5431
Taru ManyangaDivision of Medical Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5461-5981
Ryan McGrathAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Francisco B OrtegaDepartment of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada; CIBEROBN, ISCIII, Granada, Andalucía, Spain.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2001-1121
Ben SinghAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7227-2406
Grant R TomkinsonAlliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity (ARENA), Allied Health and Human Performance, University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7601-9670

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo examine and summarise evidence from meta-analyses of cohort studies that evaluated the predictive associations between baseline cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and health outcomes among adults.

designOverview of systematic reviews. DATA SOURCE: Five bibliographic databases were searched from January 2002 to March 2024.

resultsFrom the 9062 papers identified, we included 26 systematic reviews. We found eight meta-analyses that described five unique mortality outcomes among general populations. CRF had the largest risk reduction for all-cause mortality when comparing high versus low CRF (HR=0.47; 95% CI 0.39 to 0.56). A dose-response relationship for every 1-metabolic equivalent of task (MET) higher level of CRF was associated with a 11%-17% reduction in all-cause mortality (HR=0.89; 95% CI 0.86 to 0.92, and HR=0.83; 95% CI 0.78 to 0.88). For incident outcomes, nine meta-analyses described 12 unique outcomes. CRF was associated with the largest risk reduction in incident heart failure when comparing high versus low CRF (HR=0.31; 95% CI 0.19 to 0.49). A dose-response relationship for every 1-MET higher level of CRF was associated with a 18% reduction in heart failure (HR=0.82; 95% CI 0.79 to 0.84). Among those living with chronic conditions, nine meta-analyses described four unique outcomes in nine patient groups. CRF was associated with the largest risk reduction for cardiovascular mortality among those living with cardiovascular disease when comparing high versus low CRF (HR=0.27; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.48). The certainty of the evidence across all studies ranged from very low-to-moderate according to Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations.

conclusionWe found consistent evidence that high CRF is strongly associated with lower risk for a variety of mortality and incident chronic conditions in general and clinical populations.

Indexed as

Cardiorespiratory FitnessAdultCardiovascular DiseasesHeart FailureHumansMeta-Analysis as TopicMortalityCardiovascular DiseasesCohort StudiesPhysical fitnessReview

Identifiers

PMID38599681
PMCPMC11103301

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.