Muscular strength in male adolescents and premature death: cohort study of one million participants

★

☆

SHARE

Overview

Paper Summary

Conflicts of Interest

Identified Weaknesses

Rating Explanation

Good to know

Topic Hierarchy

File Information

Paper Summary

Paperzilla title

Teenage Muscle: Flex Your Way to a Longer Life (or at least, don't be super weak!)

This large prospective cohort study of over one million Swedish male adolescents found that low muscular strength in adolescence is an independent risk factor for premature death from any cause, cardiovascular disease, and suicide. Weaker adolescents had significantly higher mortality rates, with the lowest tenth showing the highest risk, an effect size comparable to elevated BMI or blood pressure.

Possible Conflicts of Interest

None identified. Authors declared no financial relationships with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work within the past three years, and no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work. Funding was received from the Swedish Research Council and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Identified Weaknesses

Limited to male adolescents

The study only included Swedish males aged 16-19 due to military conscription data, meaning the findings may not be generalizable to females or other populations.

Lack of cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity data

The study could not adjust for these factors, making it impossible to determine if muscular strength acts independently of these related health components.

Potential for reverse causality for psychiatric diagnoses

While the study found an association between lower strength and higher risk of psychiatric diagnoses (linked to suicide), it acknowledges that pre-existing mental health issues could lead to reduced physical activity and thus lower strength, rather than low strength directly causing mental health issues.

Confidentiality of exact measurement protocol

The precise method for muscular strength tests was confidential, though the authors suggest a uniform and standard protocol was used based on preliminary analyses and comparison to other studies.

Rating Explanation

This study is a well-designed prospective cohort study with an exceptionally large sample size (over one million participants) and a long follow-up period (24 years), providing robust statistical power. It identifies novel associations, particularly concerning suicide, and rigorously adjusts for confounding factors. The limitations, such as the single-sex population and lack of specific physical activity data, are acknowledged by the authors and are common in such large-scale retrospective analyses of administrative data, but do not detract significantly from the study's overall strength and contribution to the field.

Good to know

This is our free standard analysis. Paperzilla Pro fact-checks every citation, researches author backgrounds and funding sources, and uses advanced AI reasoning for more thorough insights.

Explore Pro →