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Commentary
Primary care
Walking lowers mortality risk in older US adults
  1. Klaus Gebel1,2,
  2. Ding Ding2,3
  1. 1 School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2 Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  3. 3 Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Klaus Gebel, School of Allied Health, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney, NSW 2059, Australia; klaus.gebel{at}acu.edu.au

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjebm-2018-110902

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    Commentary on: Patel AV, Hildebrand JS, Leach CR, et al. Walking in relation to mortality in a large prospective cohort of older U.S. adults. Am J Prev Med 2018;54:10–19.

    Context

    Based on epidemiological and clinical studies,1 current guidelines recommend that for health benefits, adults should accumulate 150–300 minutes/week of moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking, or 75–150 min of vigorous activity or equivalent combinations of the two.1 A pooled analysis of six studies found that compared with inactive people, those that meet these guidelines have a 31% lower mortality risk.2 Walking is the most popular physical activity, particularly among older adults.3 4 However, few epidemiological studies have focused on the specific effects of walking on mortality and some did not adjust for other kinds of physical activity.5 The study by Patel and colleagues5 examined the relationship between walking and …

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors Both authors drafted the commentary and revised it critically. Both authors have approved the final version for publication and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Commissioned; internally peer reviewed.