Persons who walked 8,000-10,000 steps even for 1 to 2 days in a week significantly reduced their risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality within 10 years, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.¹

Researchers from Kyoto University in Japan and University of California in Los Angeles examined the association between daily step count and risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, which was the main outcome of the study. For this, they selected participants, aged ≥20 years (mean age 50.5 years), from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 2005-2006. A little over half (51%) were women. The selected subjects wore an accelerometer for 1 week. They were categorized into 0 days, 1-2 days, and 3-7 days based on the number of days in a week when they walked 8,000 steps or more.

Out of the 3,101 participants selected;, 1,937 (62.5%) walked ≥8,000 steps for 3-7 days in a week, 532 (17.2%) took ≥8,000 steps 1-2 days per week, while 632 (20.4%) did not walk for ≥8,000 steps any day in the week.

Over a follow-up period of 10 years, all-cause mortality occurred in 439 subjects (14.2%) and cardiovascular mortality occurred in 148 (5.3%) participants. Those who walked ≥8,000 steps for 1-2 days reduced their 10-year risk of all-cause mortality by nearly 15% compared to those who walked ≥8,000 steps on 0 days every week. And those who walked ≥8,000 steps for 3-7 days further reduced their risk by 16.5%. On a similar note, those who walked ≥8,000 steps for 1-2 days reduced their 10-year risk of cardiovascular mortality by 2% compared to those who did not walk this number of steps on any day of the week. And those who walked ≥8,000 steps for 3-7 days further reduced their cardiovascular risk by 4%. A similar trend was noted when the daily step count of 10,000 was used for the analysis. The beneficial effects were more evident among participants aged 65 years and older.

The benefits of regular physical activity are well- established. The WHO recommends a minimum of 150-–300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75-–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity in a week for adults. The findings of this study may reassure those who may not be able to adhere to a daily exercise regime. Walking a minimum of 8,000 steps for just a day or two in a week may still yield substantial benefits by reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases and premature deaths compared to being physically inactive.

Reference

1. Inoue K, et al. Association of daily step patterns with mortality in US adults. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e235174. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.5174