Combo of Step Count and Step Pace Tied to Lower Risk for Early Death

FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Fewer daily steps at a faster pace or more steps at a slower pace may both substantially lower the risk for an early death, according to a study published online Sept. 8 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Le Wei, from University of Sydney in Australia, and colleagues examined the joint association of stepping intensity and daily step counts with all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. The analysis included 64,743 U.K. Biobank participants with wrist-worn accelerometer data.

The researchers found that compared with the reference (fifth peak 30-minute cadence [PK30] percentile and <5,000 steps/day), both <5,000 and 5,000 to 7,500 steps/day showed a beneficial linear association between PK30 and all-cause mortality risk. At higher PK30 with <5,000 steps/day (e.g., 80 steps/minute; hazard ratio [HR], 0.72) and lower PK30 with 5,000 to 7,500 steps/day (e.g., 60 steps/minute; HR, 0.70), substantially lower all-cause mortality risk was seen. The lowest risk was seen among those logging 7,500 to 10,000 steps/day, with a U- shaped pattern indicating the lowest risk at approximately 100 steps/minute (0.57). Across all step-per-day groups, higher PK30 was associated with lower all-cause mortality at 90 steps/minute (e.g., <5,000 steps/day: HR, 0.64; >10,000 steps/day: HR, 0.71). A similar dose-response pattern was seen for CVD mortality. 

“Our findings contribute to the evidence base for step-based approaches targeting both daily step counts and stepping intensity to lower mortality risk, and may inform step-based interventions for middle-aged and older adults, particularly individuals with barriers to increasing daily step counts or stepping intensity,” the authors write.

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