We studied physical fitness and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in 10 224 men
and 3120 women who were given a preventive medical examination. Physical fitness was
measured by a maximal treadmill exercise test. Average follow-up was slightly more than 8
years, for a total of 110 482 person-years of observation. There were 240 deaths in men and
43 deaths in women. Age-adjusted all-cause mortality rates declined across physical fitness
quintiles from 64.0 per 10 000 person-years in the least-fit men to 18.6 per 10 000 person …