Major study: Biking (or walking) to work will halve your risk of early death

Results Compared with non-active commuting, cyclist commuting was associated with lower all-cause mortality risk (HR 0.53, 95% CI 0.38 to 0.73), lower risk of any hospitalisation (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.97), lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) hospitalisation (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.64 to 0.91) and of having a CVD prescription (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.63 to 0.78), lower risk of cancer mortality (HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.82) and cancer hospitalisation (HR 0.76, 95% CI 0.59 to 0.98), and lower risk of having a prescription for mental health problems (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.73 to 0.89). Pedestrian commuting was associated with lower risk of any hospitalisation (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.88 to 0.93), lower risk of CVD hospitalisation (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.96) and of having a CVD prescription (HR 0.90, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.93), and lower risk of a mental health prescription (HR 0.93, 95% CI 0.90 to 0.97).

In plain English, for bicycle commuters that amounts to:

• 47% lower all-cause mortality
• 10% lower risk of any hospitalization
• 24% lower risk of cardiovascular disease hospitalization
• 30% lower risk of having a prescription relative to cardiovascular disease
• 51% lower risk of cancer mortality
• 24% lower risk of cancer hospitalization
• 20% lower risk of having a prescription for mental health issues

For people who commute to work via walking, the results are similar:

• 9% lower risk of any hospitalization
• 10% lower risk of cardiovascular hospitalization
• 10% lower risk of having a cardiovascular prescription
• 7% lower risk of having a mental health prescription

Conclusion Active commuters were less likely to suffer from a range of negative physical and mental health outcomes than non-active commuters. These findings strengthen the evidence for the health benefits of active commuting.

This study was undertaken some years before the real advent of ebikes, but as Seth points out in the video above, there have been several studies showing that the health benefits of ebike riding are close to those for regular bikes - so every indication is that the results from commuting by ebike will be very similar to commuting by regular bike.

Again, view the full study in the British Medial Journal here.