The ability to balance on one foot could help predict mortality risk in middle-aged and elderly people over the next 10 years. This has been discovered by a study carried out by researchers from the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Finland and Brazil and which has been published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
It appears that people who are unable to balance on one leg for more than 10 seconds are up to twice as likely to die from any cause in the next decade. This very simple test, known as the flamingo test, which does not require any material, could be an effective tool in routine health checks for older adults.
The tests that demonstrate the effectiveness of this home test were carried out on 1,702 people between 51 and 75 years old from 2009 to 2020. It was taken into account that the balance begins to deteriorate from the age of 60, unlike what happens with aerobic capacity and muscle strength and flexibility.
How to perform this balance test well
To perform the test well – or at least as it was done in the research – you have to place the front part of the foot in suspension on the back of the lower part of the other leg. As for the upper part, they indicate that you should keep your arms open at both sides and your gaze fixed on a specific point in front to improve balance. It can be done with either foot and up to three attempts are allowed.
The proportion of deaths among those who did not pass the balance test was higher, specifically 17.5% vs. 4.5%
The results of the study indicated that 20.5% failed to maintain body stability, a disability that increased with increasing age, as they explain, doubling in subsequent 5-year intervals from 51 to 55 years. Among those who did pass the test were 5% between 51 and 55 years old, 8% between 56 and 60 years old, 18% between 61 and 65 years old and just under 37% between 66 and 70 years old.
In the oldest group, aged 71 to 75, 54% were unable to balance and were found to have up to 11 times the risk of failing the test than those 20 years younger. Regarding the causes of death of the participants, in the 7 years of follow-up, 32% died from cancer, 30% from cardiovascular disease, 9% from respiratory disease and 7% from complications of COVID-19.
The authors found that the proportion of deaths among those who failed the balance test was higher, namely 17.5% versus 4.5%, indicating a difference of just under 13%. In the group of those who did not maintain the balance, there was a higher proportion of people with obesity, patients with heart disease, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. It was especially striking that type 2 diabetes in this group was up to three times more common, a 38% incidence, while those who did endure had a lower figure, 13%.
As the authors explain, this simple test “provides rapid and objective feedback to the patient and healthcare professionals regarding static balance. In addition, it adds useful information about mortality risk in middle-aged and older men and women.”
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