Associations of specific types of sports and exercise with all-cause and cardiovascular-disease mortality: a cohort study of 80 306 British adults.
Level 3 - non-randomized controlled study
Prospective cohort study
PubMed 27895075 · doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096822
What was done
Cox proportional hazards regression was used to investigate the associations of six specific sport and exercise disciplines (cycling, swimming, racquet sports, aerobics, football, and running) with all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality risk, adjusting for potential confounders, in a pooled Scottish and English population-based cohort of 80,306 adults (54% women; mean age 52 ± 14 years).
What was found
Significant reductions in all-cause mortality were observed for racquet sports (HR=0.53, 95% CI 0.40 to 0.69), swimming (HR=0.72, 95% CI 0.65 to 0.80), aerobics (HR=0.73, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.85), and cycling (HR=0.85, 95% CI 0.76 to 0.95), but not for running or football. For CVD mortality, significant risk reductions occurred for racquet sports (HR=0.44, 95% CI 0.24 to 0.83), swimming (HR=0.59, 95% CI 0.46 to 0.75), and aerobics (HR=0.64, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.92), while cycling, running, and football showed no significant associations. Variable dose-response patterns were found across disciplines.
Why it matters
These findings suggest that mortality risk reductions differ substantially across exercise types, with racquet sports, swimming, and aerobics demonstrating the strongest protective associations.
Limits
Observational cohort design precludes causal inference and is susceptible to residual confounding or healthy-user bias. The abstract does not report duration of follow-up, absolute event counts, or whether physical activity habits changed over time.
Cited by
- supports A UK study of 88,000 people found that individuals playing racquet sports had increased longevity compared to other sports participants, whereas running showed no mortality difference.