Age-related declines in maximal aerobic capacity in regularly exercising vs. sedentary women: a meta-analysis

Margaret D. Fitzgerald 1 , Hirofumi Tanaka 1 , Zung V. Tran 2 , and Douglas R. Seals 1 , 3 1 Human Cardiovascular Research Laboratory, Center for Physical Activity, Disease Prevention, and Aging, Department of Kinesiology, University of Colorado, Boulder 80309; 2 Center for Research in Ambulatory Health Care Administration, Medical Group Management Association, Englewood 80112; and 3 Divisions of Cardiology and Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado 80262 Received 16 September 1996; accepted in final form 12 March 1997. Fitzgerald, Margaret D., Hirofumi Tanaka, Zung V. Tran, and Douglas R. Seals. Age-related declines in maximal aerobic capacity in regularly exercising vs. sedentary women: a meta-analysis. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(1): 160-165, 1997. Our purpose was to determine the relationship between habitual aerobic exercise status and the rate of decline in maximal aerobic capacity across the adult age range in women. A meta-analytic approach was used in which mean maximal oxygen consumption ( O 2 max ) values from female subject groups (ages 18-89 yr) were obtained from the published literature. A total of 239 subject groups from 109 studies involving 4,884 subjects met the inclusion criteria and were arbitrarily separated into sedentary (groups = 107; subjects = 2,256), active (groups = 69; subjects = 1,717), and endurance-trained (groups = 63; subjects = 911) populations. O 2 max averaged 29.7 ± 7.8, 38.7 ± 9.2, and 52.0 ± 10.5 ml · kg 1 · min 1 , respectively, and was inversely related to age within each population ( r = 0.82 to 0.87, all P