Test your fitness level – see your risk of dying from cardiovascular disease

Les dette innlegget på norsk her!

Our popular fitness calculator has been updated and now you can also see the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease when you get to the results page. Fortunately, exercise gives immediate positive effects, and it is easy to reduce your risk by exercise.

Many studies suggest that your cardiorespiratory fitness level, measured as peak oxygen uptake (VO_2peak), is the single best predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and premature cardiovascular mortality. Such testing, however, is very rare in healthcare settings due to costly and time-consuming procedures. In a study from 2011, we demonstrated how VO_2peak can be estimated simply on the basis of easily available clinical and self-reported variables such as age, gender, physical activity level, body composition and resting heart rate.

Test our fitness calculator here!

In a recent large, population based cohort study publisehed in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (MSSE), we show that this simple estimation of VO_2peak can predict long-term cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. We estimated VO_2peak in more than 37,000 men and women who participated in the first wave of the HUNT study in 1984-86 and followed them in national registries until date of death.For each metabolic equivalent (MET, corresponding to appr. 3.5 mL·kg^-1·min^-1) higher estimated VO_2peak, the risk of cardiovascular mortality was reduced by 21% in both men and women who were below 60 years at baseline.

Several media has made articles about the update of the fitness calculator:

New York Times: What’s Your Fitness Age?

Financial Times: Online calculator estimates chances of early death

VG: Nå kan du sjekke din risiko for hjerteproblemer. Kalkulator fra NTNU brukes over hele verden

Bergens Tidende: Test hvilken risiko du har for å dø av hjerte- og karsykdommer. Kondiskalkulatoren gir flere svar enn tidligere.

This risk reduction is comparable to what have been reported in studies where fitness has been measured directly on a treadmill or stationary bike. Hence, we think this method of assessing fitness is a feasible and practically useful alternative for identification of unfit individuals at increased risk that will benefit from structured exercise counselling and programs.

Test our fitness calculator here!

Bjarne Nes, post doctor at CERG