The association between daily step count and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Public Health
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Physical inactivity and low daily step counts are linked to increased cardiovascular disease and overall ill-health.
• The precise number of daily steps required for optimal health benefits remains unclear.

Approach:

• A meta-analysis was conducted, systematically searching electronic databases up to June 2022.
• Seventeen cohort studies comprising 226,889 participants were analyzed to evaluate the relationship between daily step count and mortality.
• An inverse-variance weighted random-effects model was employed to assess mortality risks associated with step increments.

Key Points:

• Each 1000-step increment was associated with a 15% reduction in all-cause mortality risk.
• Each 500-step increment was linked to a 7% decrease in cardiovascular mortality risk.
• Higher quartiles of daily steps showed significant reductions in both all-cause and cardiovascular mortality compared to the lowest quartile.

Conclusions:

• A significant inverse association exists between daily step count and mortality.
• Benefits are observed with as few as 2337 steps/day for cardiovascular mortality and 3867 steps/day for all-cause mortality.
• A nonlinear, dose-response relationship indicates that increased step counts progressively lower mortality risk.