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. 2023 Aug;33(8):1541-1551.
doi: 10.1111/sms.14385. Epub 2023 May 10.

Ten-year mortality among older male recreational endurance athletes in the Birkebeiner Aging Study in comparison with older men from the Tromsø Study

Kristoffer R Johansen  1   2 , Anette Hylen Ranhoff  3   4   5 , Eivind Sørensen  5   6 , Bjarne M Nes  7 , Silvana Bucher-Sandbakk  8 , Tom Wilsgaard  9 , Maja-Lisa Løchen  9   10 , Dag S Thelle  11   12 , Bente Morseth  1   2 , Marius Myrstad  6   13 ; NEXAF
Collaborators, Affiliations

Ten-year mortality among older male recreational endurance athletes in the Birkebeiner Aging Study in comparison with older men from the Tromsø Study

Kristoffer R Johansen et al. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Physical activity (PA) is associated with reduced mortality. However, whether there is an added benefit of long-term endurance training is unclear. Thus, we aimed to examine 10-year mortality in older male endurance athletes compared with an older male general population.

Method: Male athletes (n = 503) participating in an annual long-distance ski race (median years of participation: 14, range: 1-53) from the Norwegian Birkebeiner Aging study (BiAS), and non-athletic men (n = 1867) attending the sixth Tromsø Study (Tromsø6) aged ≥65 years were included. Associations with endurance sport practice and joint exposures of endurance sport practice and self-reported leisure-time PA with all-cause mortality were examined. We analyzed the data with Cox proportional hazard models and regression standardization.

Results: After 10 years (median: 10.4, range: 0.5-11.1) the mortality rate was lower in athletes (hazard ratio (HR) 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.24-0.49) compared with non-athletes, corresponding to a 15% (95% CI: 12-19%) absolute risk reduction associated with endurance sport practice. In joint analyses categorized according to PA and endurance sport practice, we observed an inverse dose-response relationship with mortality (p < 0.001). Compared to inactive non-athletes, PA was associated with lower mortality in both active non-athletes and athletes. However, the observed benefit among participants reporting moderate-to-vigorous PA was larger in athletes (HR: 0.21, 95% CI: 0.14-0.32) than non-athletes (HR: 0.43, 95% CI: 0.31-0.59) (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: Endurance sport practice was associated with reduced 10-year mortality, beyond the effect of PA in older men. This study suggests that long-term endurance sport practice maintained into older adulthood promotes longevity.

Keywords: athletes; endurance training; epidemiology; mortality; physical activity.

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References

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