Self-rated walking pace and all-cause, cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality: individual participant pooled analysis of 50 225 walkers from 11 population British cohorts

Abstract

Walking benefits health. Assuming causality, these analyses suggest that increasing walking pace could reduce risk for all-cause and CVD mortality. Walking pace could be emphasised in public health messages, especially in situations when increase in walking volume or frequency is less feasible.

Association between Walking Pace and Diabetes: Findings from the Chilean National Health Survey 2016–2017

“…The associations found between walking pace and T2D agree with international existing evidence [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. However, other studies have shown that walking pace is also a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature mortality in middle age [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 31 ] as well as cardiovascular risk, cardiovascular events, and risk of death in older adults [ 32 , 33 , 34 ].…”

Walking on sunshine: scoping review of the evidence for walking and mental health

“…The differences between a brisk walk, a slow shuffle and the differential effects as fitness declines with age and relative intensity of walking increases need to be better understood for effective public health messaging and intervention. Increasing evidence suggests physiological health effects for walking differ by intensity;86 it is important to understand if the same is true for mental health.…”

What Hippocrates called ‘Man’s best medicine’: walking is humanity’s path to a better world

“…This Special Issue includes three extended editorials,3–5 three systematic reviews6–8 (including one meta-analysis6), one narrative review, one scoping review9 and one individual participant pooled analysis 10. World Health Organization Program Leader Fiona Bull and the co-author of the 1997 review Adrianne Hardman3 provide the historical context.…”

“…But since counting steps could be an arduous task for many, the question remains—Does self-rated (eg, slow, average, fast) walking pace associate with long-term indicators of health such as all-cause, cardiovascular disease–related and cancer mortality risk? We share the answers that were derived from a nearly half a million person-years pooled analysis of 11 British cohorts that included a sample of over 50 000 walkers from the general population 10. A strength of that study was a relatively new direction in meta-analysis that involves individual participant-level data 14…”