Ventilatory Threshold And All-cause Mortality In Apparently Healthy Adults

Abstract

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) has a well-established relationship to all-cause mortality. More recently, ventilatory threshold (VO2@VT) has been shown to be related to cardiovascular events in middle-age men. However, this relationship has not been examined in women. PURPOSE: To examine the relationship between ventilatory threshold and all-cause mortality in apparently healthy men and women. METHODS: Participants (n = 1571, 820 men, 751 women) from the Ball State Adult Fitness Longitudinal Lifestyle Study (BALL ST) cohort with a mean age of 45.9 ± 15.2 yr performed maximal cardiopulmonary exercise testing to assess CRF and oxygen uptake at the ventilatory threshold (VO2@VT) between January 1992 and December 2016. Participants were followed for an average of 15.7 ± 8.3 yr for all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazard models were completed to determine the relationship between VO2@VT and mortality, with VO2@VT as a continuous variable. RESULTS: During the follow-up period there were 119 deaths. The VO2@VT was inversely related to mortality (Hazard Ratio: 0.911, 0.867-0.957 95% CI, p < 0.001) after adjustment for age, sex, test year, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, physical inactivity, and smoking status. However, this relationship was no longer significant after further adjustment for CRF (Hazard Ratio: 0.948, 0.886-1.015 95% CI, p = 0.122). CONCLUSION: These results extend previous research to demonstrate that the VO2@VT is related to all-cause mortality in apparently healthy women and men. Since the assessment of VO2@VT does not require maximal exertion, VO2@VT may have clinical utility when the assessment of CRF (i.e., VO2max) is not feasible or if only submaximal exercise testing is preferred.