TUESDAY, Nov. 5, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Running participation is associated with a significantly lower risk for all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality, according to a review and meta-analysis published online Nov. 4 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Zeljko Pedisic, Ph.D., from Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to examine the correlation between running or jogging participation and the risk for all-cause, cardiovascular, and/or cancer mortality in a nonclinical population of adults. Data were included from 14 studies from six prospective cohorts with a pooled sample of 232,149 participants.
During 5.5 to 35 years of follow-up, 25,951 deaths were recorded. The researchers found that compared with no running, running participation correlated with risk reductions of 27, 30, and 23 percent for all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality (hazard ratios, 0.73, 0.70, and 0.77, respectively). No significant dose-response trends were seen for weekly frequency, weekly duration, pace, or total volume of running in meta-regression analysis.
"More studies are needed to examine how sustained running behavior, rather than sporadic participation, is associated with mortality risk," the authors write. "Future studies should also consider assessing running habits using activity trackers, as these devices may provide more detailed and accurate insights into running behavior."
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