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full . The American Heart Association makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of an outside relationship or a personal, professional, or business interest of a member of the writing panel . Specifically, all members of the writing group are required to complete and submit a Disclosure Questionnaire showing all such relationships that might be perceived as real or potential conflicts of interest .

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Background-Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among women and accounts for more than half of their deaths. Women have been underrepresented in most studies of cardiovascular disease. Reduced physical fitness has been shown to increase the risk of death in men. Exercise capacity measured by exercise stress test is an objective measure of physical fitness. The hypothesis that reduced exercise capacity is associated with an increased risk of death was investigated in a cohort of 5721 asymptomatic women who underwent baseline examinations in 1992. Methods and Results-Information collected at baseline included medical and family history, demographic characteristics, physical examination, and symptom-limited stress ECG, using the Bruce protocol. Exercise capacity was measured in metabolic equivalents (MET). Nonfasting blood was analyzed at baseline. A National Death Index search was performed to identify all-cause death and date of death up to the end of 2000. The mean age of participants at baseline was 52Ϯ11 years. Framingham Risk Score-adjusted hazards ratios (with 95% CI) of death associated with MET levels of Ͻ5, 5 to 8, and Ͼ8 were 3.1 (2.0 to 4.7), 1.9 (1.3 to 2.9), and 1.00, respectively. The Framingham Risk Score-adjusted mortality risk decreased by 17% for every 1-MET increase. Conclusions-This is the largest cohort of asymptomatic women studied in this context over the longest period of follow-up. This study confirms that exercise capacity is an independent predictor of death in asymptomatic women, greater than what has been previously established among men.