Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35247352›Full record

SynthesisThe Lancet. Public health2022

Daily steps and all-cause mortality: a meta-analysis of 15 international cohorts.

Amanda E Paluch, Shivangi Bajpai, David R Bassett, Mercedes R Carnethon, Ulf Ekelund, Kelly R Evenson, Deborah A Galuska, Barbara J Jefferis, William E Kraus, I-Min Lee and 36 more

2 registry-linked trialsAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The Lancet. Public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 283 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
283citing papers in PubMed, 12 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06600438 narecruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Slow-SPEED-United Kingdom: A Double-Blind Randomised Feasibility Trial of a Remote Gamified Physical Activity Programme in Adults With Hyposmia.

TypeinterventionalSponsorQueen Mary University of LondonRan2026 to 2027Enrolled110ConditionsHyposmia, Olfactory Dysfunction, AnosmiaArmsSlow-SPEED app
NCT06987708 nanot yet recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2026, after this paper: background citation

Evaluating the Impact of a 12-month Multi-Modal Lifestyle Management Intervention on Disease Relevant Biomarkers Associated With Monoclonal Gammopathy of Unknown Significance (MGUS) and Smoldering Myeloma (SM): A Prospective Intervention Pilot Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorHackensack Meridian HealthRan2026 to 2028Enrolled67ConditionsMonoclonal Gammopathy of Uncertain Significance, Smoldering MyelomaArmsThe Multimodal Lifestyle Intervention
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

283 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  2. Physical inactivity in chronic airways disease: an important candidate in the treatable traits paradigm.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026
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223 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

46 authors.

Amanda E PaluchDepartment of Kinesiology and Institute for Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA. Electronic address: apaluch@umass.edu.
Shivangi BajpaiDepartment of Kinesiology and Institute for Applied Life Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.
David R BassettDepartment Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
Mercedes R CarnethonDepartment of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
Ulf EkelundDepartment of Sport Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Department of Chronic Diseases and Ageing, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Kelly R EvensonDepartment of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
Deborah A GaluskaDivision of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Barbara J JefferisDepartment of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL Medical School, London, UK.
William E KrausDuke Molecular Physiology Institute and Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
I-Min LeeBrigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston MA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Charles E MatthewsDivision of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA.
John D OmuraDivision of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Alpa V PatelDepartment of Population Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Carl F PieperDepartment of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC.
Erika Rees-PuniaDepartment of Population Science, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Dhayana DallmeierAgaplesion Bethesda Clinic, Research Unit on Ageing, Ulm, Germany; Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Jochen KlenkInstitute of Epidemiology and Medical Biometry, Ulm University, Ulm, Germany; Department of Clinical Gerontology, Robert Bosch Hospital, Stuttgart, Germany; IB University of Applied Health and Social Sciences, Stuttgart, Germany.
Peter H WhincupPopulation Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, London, UK.
Erin E DooleyDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Kelley Pettee GabrielDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Priya PaltaDepartments of Medicine and Epidemiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
Lisa A PompeiiDepartment of Pediatrics, Center for Epidemiology and Population Health, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Ariel ChernofskyDepartment of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Martin G LarsonDepartment of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Ramachandran S VasanDepartment of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Nicole SpartanoDepartment of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Nutrition and Weight Management, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
Marcel BallinDepartment of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Unit of Geriatric Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Peter NordströmDepartment of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Unit of Geriatric Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Anna NordströmDepartment of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Section of Sustainable Health, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; School of Sport Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Sigmund A AnderssenDepartment of Sport Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
Bjørge H HansenDepartment of Sport Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, University of Agder, Norway.
Jennifer A CochraneMenzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia.
Terence DwyerMenzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia; Nuffield Department of Women's and Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Jing WangMurdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
Luigi FerrucciIntramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Fangyu LiuDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Jennifer SchrackDepartment of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Jacek UrbanekCenter on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Pedro F Saint-MauriceDivision of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA.
Naofumi YamamotoFaculty of Collaborative Regional Innovation, Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan.
Yutaka YoshitakeInstitute for Pacific Rim Studies, Meio University, Nago, Okinawa, Japan.
Robert L NewtonPennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
Shengping YangPennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
Eric J ShiromaLaboratory of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Janet E FultonDivision of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Steps for Health Collaborative

Funding

Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science CenterU54GM104940 · LSU PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CTR · 2025 to 2025
$3.9M
Pilot and Feasibility ProgramP30DK072476 · LSU PENNINGTON BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH CTR · 2005 to 2025
$2.2M
Physical Activity, Energy Balance, and CancerZIACP010197 · DIVISION OF CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY AND GENETICS · 2025 to 2025
$1.1M
Biomarkers of Homeostatic Dysregulation in Aging and Chronic DiseaseZIAAG000971 · NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING · 2025 to 2025
$24k
Intramural NIH HHS Z99 AG999999NCI NIH HHS R01 CA227122NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL136266NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK072476NIGMS NIH HHS U54 GM104940
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAlthough 10 000 steps per day is widely promoted to have health benefits, there is little evidence to support this recommendation. We aimed to determine the association between number of steps per day and stepping rate with all-cause mortality.

methodsIn this meta-analysis, we identified studies investigating the effect of daily step count on all-cause mortality in adults (aged ≥18 years), via a previously published systematic review and expert knowledge of the field. We asked participating study investigators to process their participant-level data following a standardised protocol. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality collected from death certificates and country registries. We analysed the dose-response association of steps per day and stepping rate with all-cause mortality. We did Cox proportional hazards regression analyses using study-specific quartiles of steps per day and calculated hazard ratios (HRs) with inverse-variance weighted random effects models.

findingsWe identified 15 studies, of which seven were published and eight were unpublished, with study start dates between 1999 and 2018. The total sample included 47 471 adults, among whom there were 3013 deaths (10·1 per 1000 participant-years) over a median follow-up of 7·1 years ([IQR 4·3-9·9]; total sum of follow-up across studies was 297 837 person-years). Quartile median steps per day were 3553 for quartile 1, 5801 for quartile 2, 7842 for quartile 3, and 10 901 for quartile 4. Compared with the lowest quartile, the adjusted HR for all-cause mortality was 0·60 (95% CI 0·51-0·71) for quartile 2, 0·55 (0·49-0·62) for quartile 3, and 0·47 (0·39-0·57) for quartile 4. Restricted cubic splines showed progressively decreasing risk of mortality among adults aged 60 years and older with increasing number of steps per day until 6000-8000 steps per day and among adults younger than 60 years until 8000-10 000 steps per day. Adjusting for number of steps per day, comparing quartile 1 with quartile 4, the association between higher stepping rates and mortality was attenuated but remained significant for a peak of 30 min (HR 0·67 [95% CI 0·56-0·83]) and a peak of 60 min (0·67 [0·50-0·90]), but not significant for time (min per day) spent walking at 40 steps per min or faster (1·12 [0·96-1·32]) and 100 steps per min or faster (0·86 [0·58-1·28]).

interpretationTaking more steps per day was associated with a progressively lower risk of all-cause mortality, up to a level that varied by age. The findings from this meta-analysis can be used to inform step guidelines for public health promotion of physical activity.

fundingUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Indexed as

ExerciseWalkingAdolescentAdultAgedHumansMiddle AgedProportional Hazards Models

Identifiers

PMID35247352
PMCPMC9289978

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.