Physical Fitness as a Predictor of Mortality among Healthy, Middle-Aged Norwegian Men

Abstract

Physical activity beyond a certain level and duration is necessary to improve physical fitness1 and may be an important factor in the prevention of death from ischemic heart disease2. Since physical activity is more difficult to quantify than the level of physical fitness, however, the latter has gained popularity in the assessment of both cardiovascular function and long-term cardiovascular health. Recent reports3–11 conclude that a low level of physical fitness is associated with increased mortality from cardiovascular causes during the subsequent five to eight years, a finding that corroborates our observations over a seven-year period in 2014 apparently . . .