Impact of cardiovascular fitness and physical activity level on health outcomes in older persons.

It remains unclear whether health recommendations should focus on improving cardiovascular fitness or physical activity energy expenditure in older persons. Although the literature is not abundant in this area, we first examined the association between cardiovascular fitness and physical activity. It appears that cross-sectional studies support a positive association between cardiovascular fitness and physical activity energy expenditure, whereas intervention studies suggest that when aerobic exercise is implemented later in life, older individuals either do not change or decrease physical activity energy expenditure outside of the program. We also considered the impact of improvements in cardiovascular fitness and physical activity on some commonly measured health outcomes in older persons. Based on preliminary studies, it appears that improving cardiovascular fitness has a greater impact on various health outcomes, whereas increased physical activity is also associated with health benefits, although to a lesser extent. Further work should be devoted at elucidating the individual benefits of increasing cardiovascular fitness or physical activity on health outcomes in older persons. Such information will be useful in refining exercise prescription to improve health status, particularly in older persons.