Failing this simple test doubles a person’s risk of death within the next 10 years.
Middle-aged or older adults who can’t successfully stand on one leg for 10 seconds are twice as likely to die from any cause within the next decade, a study reveals.
The balance test is safe, simple, and easy so it can be used as part of a routine health check-up for adult patients.
Unlike flexibility, aerobic fitness, and muscle strength exercises, most people can do balance exercises for 60 years of their life and then it starts to decline quickly.
Although the balance exercise is easy, there is no standard test for it to be included in middle-aged people’s regular health checks.
Therefore, the research team tried to set up a balance test as a tool predicting the odds of early death in older adults.
For this study, physical fitness and health of 1,702 people aged between 51 and 75 was monitored for seven years.
During participants health checks, they had to do a balance test: standing on one leg for 10 seconds without any extra support.
They were asked to put their free foot behind and touching the leg they were standing on.
They kept their hands at their sides and gaze straight ahead.
One in five participants failed the test: 5 percent were 51 to 55 years old, 8 percent were 56 to 60, 18 percent were 61 to 65, and 37 percent were 66 to 70 years of age.
About 54 percent of participants aged 71 and 75 were unable to complete the balance exercise, meaning they were 11 times more likely to fail the test than those who were 20 years younger.
Through the 7-year period of the study, 123 people died of cardiovascular disease, cancer, complications from COVID-19, and respiratory disease.
Participates who failed were unhealthier than the others, with a larger number with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, and obesity.
In short, the risk of dying from any cause within the next ten years was 84 percent higher for those who were unable to perform the 10 second one-legged stance.
The authors, concluded that the balance test:
“…provides rapid and objective feedback for the patient and health professionals regarding static balance.
It adds useful information regarding mortality risk in middle-aged and older men and women.”
The study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (Araujo et al., 2022).
