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Pooled review (meta-analysis)

Pooled review of 17 studies: 1000 more steps linked to 15% lower death risk

Banach and colleagues · European journal of preventive cardiology · 2023

Original title: The association between daily step count and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a meta-analysis.

Under review. A person has not yet checked this summary against the paper. It is written from the PubMed abstract. Until a person checks it, search engines are asked not to list this page.

What the study found

Points to benefit

Each 1000 more steps a day went with 15% lower risk of death (HR 0.85). Higher step groups had 48, 55 and 67% lower risk than the lowest group.

The study at a glance

Type of study
Pooled review (meta-analysis)
Who or what was studied
17 studies, 226,889 people · Generally healthy adults or adults at heart risk, from 17 studies
What was tested
Compared daily step counts and later death from any cause and from heart disease
What it measured
The question itself: death from any cause
Who has a stake
Company stake
One author received research support from Apple, Google and iHealth, which sell step-counting devices; others list drug company ties.
Journal
European journal of preventive cardiology, 2023
Source
PubMed record 37555441. This page is based on the abstract only.

How much this study counts

  • ✓Pools the results of 17 studies with 226,889 people.
  • •A pooled review is only as strong as the studies it pools.
  • ✓Measured the question itself: death from any cause.
  • –Company stake: One author received research support from Apple, Google and iHealth, which sell step-counting devices; others list drug company ties.
  • •Summarized from the PubMed abstract only. The full paper may hold details the abstract leaves out.

✓ Strength– Limit• Note

These points come from fixed rules about the type of study, its size and length, what it measured, and who has a stake. Every study on Digestery gets the same rules.

Where this study sits

This paper is not on the ladder. It is a pooled review (meta-analysis), and reviews and opinion pieces discuss studies that are already counted on the steps below.

↑ Stronger evidence

  1. Trials in people: death from any cause

    0

    Not done yet. This is the step that would answer the question.

  2. Trials in people: other measures

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  3. Trials in people: lab tests or safety

    0

    None among the papers we read.

  4. Population studies

    10

    9 benefit, 1 no difference

  5. Blood levels and genes

    0

    None among the papers we read.

↓ Weaker evidence

  • Points to benefit
  • Mixed
  • No difference
  • No direction
  • Points to harm

How it fits with the other research

The short answer to “How many steps a day lower the risk of early death?”

About 6,000 to 10,000 steps; fewer if older.

Confidence: low. Based on 17 on-topic papers.

Read the full answer

Other reviews on this question

See all 17 studies on this question

How this page was made

Label

First read of the abstract
Claude Sonnet
Independent second read
Claude Haiku
Differences settled
The two reads agreed on every checked field. Claude Opus 5.5.
Headline
Claude Sonnet, from the checked study record. A script checked its numbers and wording.
Numbers
Checked against the abstract by a script
“How much this study counts”
Fixed rules, the same for every study
Source check by a person
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