What a simple balance test may say about your overall health

Story at a glance A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine this week suggests the inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in middle to later life is associated with a higher risk of death from any cause. Those who failed the balance test generally had conditions such as obesity,…

Story at a glance
A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine this week suggests the inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in middle to later life is associated with a higher risk of death from any cause.
Those who failed the balance test generally had conditions such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
The inability to successfully complete a 10-second balance test was associated with an 84 percent heightened risk of death from any cause within the next decade, when accounting for age, sex and underlying health conditions.
A simple balance test may be a reliable indicator of a person’s overall risk of death and could be useful to include in routine health checks for middle-aged and older men and women, according to new research.

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine this week suggests the inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in middle to later life is associated with a higher risk of death from any cause within the next decade, leading the study’s authors to call for the test to be included in routine physical exams for people starting in their fifties, when balance begins to wane.

Balance tests are typically not included in yearly examinations, even for older adults, as there aren’t any standardized tests and few data linking it to clinical outcomes other than falls, according to the study.