Active Older Adults With Daily Limits Face Lower Death Risk
Graded Moderate — three large surveys of 64,146 older adults on three continents; as observational data they show links, but not that activity is the cause.
- Design
- Prospective cohort study
- Participants
- 64,146
- Duration
- —
- Funding
- National Institute on Aging, NIH, EU Horizon 2020 and Framework Programmes…
Among regularly active older adults, muscle loss and trouble with daily tasks came with a smaller rise in the risk of dying.
Losing muscle in later life, or struggling with everyday tasks, comes with a higher risk of dying. But among people who were regularly active in their free time, that extra risk was smaller. This is what an analysis of three large aging surveys from the US, Europe and China found.
The analysis covered 64,146 people. Regularly active meant meeting the World Health Organization's advice, about 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. In the US survey, inactive people who struggled with basic daily tasks had an 82 percent higher risk of dying than inactive people without such problems. Among regularly active people, the increase was 39 percent. For age-related muscle loss, the gap between the groups was smaller. Europe and China showed the same pattern.
These are observational data. They do not show that activity lowers the risk, because active people may differ in other ways too. It is also unclear which kind of activity matters, since endurance and strength training were not looked at separately.
Disclaimer: Research summaries are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your health routine.