How many steps a day to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality? A dose-response meta-analysis Dear Editor, Free, accessible, and without requiring high levels of fitness, special skills, or equipment, walking is the most popular physical activity worldwide [1].Step counts are easily measured and interpreted, which makes them an ideal candidate for interventions, clinical advice, and public health guidelines. Several studies, including a recent meta-analysis [2], have found a consistent inverse relationship between steps and all-cause mortality. While existing studies assume a linear relationship between step counts and mortality [2], evidence implies that the relationship could be nonlinear [3]. Considering that the shape of the relationship and the "optimal dose" remained unknown, we conducted a dose-response meta-analysis between daily step counts and all-cause mortality.
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