Why Cardio-Respiratory Fitness is Important

Why Cardio-respiratory Fitness is Important

The American Heart Association (AHA) has published a Scientific Statement (Circulation 2016; 134:e653-e699) “Importance of Assessing Cardio-respiratory Fitness in Clinical Practice: A Case for Fitness as a Clinical Vital Sign”

This Scientific Statement included a comprehensive review of the body of research studies of Cardio-respiratory Fitness as a health measure and care guideline. The Scientific Statement included the following research findings and conclusions regarding the importance of Cardio-respiratory Fitness to health and to the practice of medicine:

The past 2 decades have seen an exponential growth in the number of Studies assessing the association between measures of Cardio-respiratory Fitness, mortality and other health outcomes.
In a growing number of studies, Cardio-respiratory Fitness has been demonstrated to be a more powerful predictor of mortality risk than traditional risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
Low measures of Cardio-respiratory Fitness in adults is associated with high risk for mortality.
Small increases in Cardio-respiratory Fitness are associated with considerably lower risk of an adverse cardiovascular event.
Cardio-respiratory Fitness is a variable that is responsive to therapy. Individuals whose Cardio-respiratory Fitness increases between examinations have a lower risk of adverse health and clinical outcomes.
Of crucial importance is the repeated observation that one does not need to be highly fit to gain benefit from improvement in Cardio-respiratory Fitness.
Physical activity interventions targeting the least fit individuals will likely have the largest health benefit.
Non-exercise algorithms using readily available clinical variables may provide reasonably accurate estimates of Cardio-respiratory Fitness as compared with Cardio-respiratory Fitness Exercise (CRX) tests.
Non-exercise estimates of Cardio-respiratory Fitness may be useful to provide an initial estimate of an individual’s Cardio-respiratory Fitness, particularly to identify those at increased risk of disease because of a low Cardio-respiratory Fitness measure.
The evidence reviewed suggests that the measurement of Cardio-respiratory Fitness improves patient management and that its omission from routine clinical practice for the vast majority of patients is unacceptable.
At a minimum, all adults should have Cardio-respiratory Fitness estimated each year using a non-exercise algorithm during their annual healthcare examination.

Why Cardio-Respiratory Fitness is Important

Why Cardio-respiratory Fitness is Important

The American Heart Association (AHA) has published a Scientific Statement (Circulation 2016; 134:e653-e699) “Importance of Assessing Cardio-respiratory Fitness in Clinical Practice: A Case for Fitness as a Clinical Vital Sign”

The past 2 decades have seen an exponential growth in the number of Studies assessing the association between measures of Cardio-respiratory Fitness, mortality and other health outcomes.

In a growing number of studies, Cardio-respiratory Fitness has been demonstrated to be a more powerful predictor of mortality risk than traditional risk factors such as hypertension, smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.

Low measures of Cardio-respiratory Fitness in adults is associated with high risk for mortality.

Small increases in Cardio-respiratory Fitness are associated with considerably lower risk of an adverse cardiovascular event.

Cardio-respiratory Fitness is a variable that is responsive to therapy. Individuals whose Cardio-respiratory Fitness increases between examinations have a lower risk of adverse health and clinical outcomes.

Of crucial importance is the repeated observation that one does not need to be highly fit to gain benefit from improvement in Cardio-respiratory Fitness.

Physical activity interventions targeting the least fit individuals will likely have the largest health benefit.

Non-exercise algorithms using readily available clinical variables may provide reasonably accurate estimates of Cardio-respiratory Fitness as compared with Cardio-respiratory Fitness Exercise (CRX) tests.

Non-exercise estimates of Cardio-respiratory Fitness may be useful to provide an initial estimate of an individual’s Cardio-respiratory Fitness, particularly to identify those at increased risk of disease because of a low Cardio-respiratory Fitness measure.

The evidence reviewed suggests that the measurement of Cardio-respiratory Fitness improves patient management and that its omission from routine clinical practice for the vast majority of patients is unacceptable.

At a minimum, all adults should have Cardio-respiratory Fitness estimated each year using a non-exercise algorithm during their annual healthcare examination.

A highlighted copy of the AHA Scientific Statement can be viewed via the following link:

AHA-Importance of CRF-Dec2016-highlighted