Leisure-time running reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality risk.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective observational cohort study
PubMed 25082581 · doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2014.04.058
What was done
A prospective cohort study evaluated 55,137 adults aged 18 to 100 years (mean age 44 years) followed for a mean of 15 years. Leisure-time running habits (time, distance, frequency, amount, and speed) and changes in running behavior over time were assessed using medical history questionnaires. The primary outcomes were all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
What was found
During follow-up, 3,413 all-cause and 1,217 cardiovascular deaths occurred. Approximately 24% of participants were runners. Compared with nonrunners, runners had 30% lower adjusted all-cause mortality and 45% lower cardiovascular mortality, along with a 3-year life expectancy benefit. Similar mortality reductions occurred across all quintiles of running time, distance, frequency, amount, and speed. Running <51 min/week, <6 miles/week, 1 to 2 times/week, <506 MET-minutes/week, or <6 miles/h was sufficient to reduce mortality risk. Persistent runners had 29% lower all-cause and 50% lower cardiovascular mortality risks compared with never-runners.
Why it matters
This study shows that meaningful longevity and cardiovascular benefits are achievable with very low doses of running (5 to 10 minutes per day), lowering the practical barrier to entry for sedentary individuals.
Limits
Physical activity was self-reported, creating risk for recall and misclassification bias. As an observational cohort study, residual confounding cannot be excluded. The abstract does not provide exact hazard ratios or confidence intervals.
Cited by
- supports Lifetime runners have a longer life expectancy by several years compared to non-runners.