The objective of this paper was to determine the combined effects of several positive health factors, such as cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), on all-cause mortality in men. The study population included 38,110 men, aged 20-84 years, from the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS). During an average follow-up of 16 years, a total of 2,642 deaths were documented. Results showed that the risk of all-cause mortality was inversely associated with the number of positive health factors. For instance, compared with the group who had zero positive health factors, a 22%-61% risk reduction was observed in all-cause mortality among those who had one to five positive health factors. Regarding individual factors, a positive association was observed between body mass index and all-cause mortality whereas an inverse association was found between CRF and risk of mortality. In addition, the risk for all-cause mortality for current smokers was significantly higher than past or never smokers. Thus, these results support the importance of improving multiple health factors to substantially increase health benefits.
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