WEDNESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- A broad study of white and black men across socioeconomic levels verified what has previously been known only for higher socioeconomic groups and whites: men who are more physically fit have lower mortality risks. The study findings were released online Jan. 22 in advance of publication in the Feb. 5 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Peter Kokkinos, Ph.D., from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and colleagues studied 15,660 male veterans, including 6,749 blacks (average age 58) and 8,911 whites (average age 60), who took exercise tolerance tests over a 23-year period. During the mean follow-up study period of 7.5 years, 3,912 of them died. Data were taken on patients' basic physical parameters and cardiovascular risk factors.
The researchers found that although black males in this study had an 11 percent higher mortality than white males, mortality risk in black and white males decreased with increased exercise capacity. The risk for mortality was graded and dependent upon a measure of fitness: peak workload as expressed in metabolic equivalents. Even patients with cardiovascular disease showed similar decreases in mortality risk with increased fitness. The results do not include women and cannot be extrapolated to them.
"Because higher exercise capacity is associated with a lower risk of mortality, physicians and other health care professionals should encourage individuals to initiate and maintain a physically active lifestyle consisting of moderate-intensity activities (brisk walking or similar activities)," Kokkinos and colleagues recommend.
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