Peak oxygen pulse and mortality risk in healthy women and men: The Ball State Adult Fitness Longitudinal Lifestyle Study (BALL ST)

Peak oxygen pulse (O-2 pulse(peak)) may have predictive utility for health outcomes yet, presently, has only been examined in men and only using a single baseline measure. Purpose: The primary aim of this investigation was to evaluate the relationship between O-2 pulse(peak) and all-cause mortality in apparently healthy women and men. A secondary aim was to explore the relationship between longitudinal changes to O-2 pulse(peak) and mortality. Methods: The sample included 3877 participants (43% women) for the primary aim and 759 participants (32% women) who performed two cardiopulmonary exercise tests >= 1 year apart for the secondary aim. Cox proportional hazard models were performed to determine the relationship between O-2 pulse(peak) and mortality. Prognostic peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and O-2 pulse(peak) models were compared using the concordance index and Akaike information criterion (AIC). Results: In the assessment from baseline, there were 730 deaths over a 24.7 +/- 11.8 year follow-up period. For men, a single measure of O-2 pulse(peak) was inversely associated with risk for mortality (P < 0.05). However, the concordance index and AIC indicated lower discrimination compared to VO2peak models and O-2 pulse(peak) did not provide complementary benefit to VO2peak models. For women, O-2 pulse(peak) was not associated with mortality risk. In the longitudinal analysis, there were 168 deaths over a follow-up of 20.1 +/- 11.4 years. Changes to O-2 pulse(peak) were not significantly related to mortality in either sex. Conclusions: Within an apparently healthy cohort, a single assessment of O-2 pulse(peak) is related to all-cause mortality in men but not women. Further, longitudinal changes to O-2 pulse(peak) are not predictive of mortality in either sex. These findings suggest O-2 pulse(peak) may have limited prognostic utility in healthy individuals, particularly within healthy women. (C) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.