In order to live as healthily as possible, physical fitness is extremely important. This also includes the ability to keep yourself in balance. According to researchers, a simple test can show how long you will live.
More than 650,000 people die each year due to falls and related injuries.
Accidents that could be avoided? Researchers from Brazil have conducted a study to examine the connection between the risk of death and balance in middle-aged and elderly people.
They believe that a ten-second test can predict how high one’s own risk of death is.
The study involved 1,702 people between the ages of 51 and 75. They had to place one leg on the other calf and place their arms against their body, similar to the tree yoga pose.
Anyone who could hold this position for ten seconds was considered to have passed the test.
As people age, their balance disappears. The Brazilian researchers wanted to investigate how the ability to maintain balance for ten seconds is related to overall mortality.
Overall, about 20.4 percent of participants failed the test, while among 51- to 55-year-olds the figure was only five percent.
The older the person, the higher the failure rate. Among those aged 71 to 75, over half failed.
In the seven years that the participants were observed, 123 people died. What was striking was that the probability of death in the group that failed the test (17.5 percent) was significantly higher than in those who had successfully completed the test (4.6 percent).
It was found that old age and an unhealthy lifestyle were common in the group of those who failed the test. The researchers concluded that for older and elderly people who had failed the test, the overall risk of death in the seven years studied was 84 percent higher.
This was true even when other factors such as age, BMI and health risk factors were taken into account.
If you try the test right now and fall over, that doesn’t mean you’ll die sooner. The study is observational and many factors were ignored.
For example, the study was only carried out once. Therefore, no statement is made about the current state of mind, distractions or difficulties concentrating.
In addition, the sample is small and non-diverse. Only white people from Brazil were examined. The effects of ethnicity and influences of different living conditions were not taken into account.
A more meaningful causality between balance and mortality risk can only be established when follow-up studies with larger samples are conducted. For clear results, the participants should come from the same age group.
Nevertheless, balance plays an important role in physical fitness. With simple exercises you can protect yourself from falls – and pass the ten-second balance test with ease at any age.
The original of this article “Keeping balance: How long will I live? A simple test will tell you” comes from FitForFun.
