How well a person can balance can provide a picture of their health. Previous research, for example, shows that imbalance in one leg is associated with a higher risk of stroke. People with poor balance have also been found to perform worse on a mental decline test, suggesting a link to dementia. Now an international team of experts from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Finland and Brazil has completed a first-of-its-kind 12-year study examining the relationship between equilibrium and mortality. Although the research was observational and could not determine the cause, her findings were impressive. The inability to stand on one leg for 10 seconds in the middle to later life is associated with an almost doubling of the risk of death from any cause within the next 10 years. The results were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The findings are so strong that researchers, led by Dr. Claudio Gil Araujo of Clinimex Clinical Exercise in Rio de Janeiro, suggest including a balance test in routine health check-ups for the elderly. In contrast to aerobic fitness, muscle strength and flexibility, balance tends to be well maintained until the sixth decade of life, when it begins to decline relatively rapidly. However, balance assessment is usually not included in middle-aged and elderly health checks, probably because there is no standardized test for it. So far there has been little hard data linking balance to clinical outcomes other than falls. A total of 1,702 people aged between 51 and 75 years and with steady gait were monitored between 2008 and 2020 for the study. At the beginning, participants were asked to stand on one leg for 10 seconds without any additional support. To standardize the test, participants were asked to place the front of their free foot on the back of the opposite lower leg while keeping their hands on their sides and their eyes glued straight forward. Up to three attempts with each foot were allowed. One in five (21%) failed the test. Over the next decade, 123 died of various causes. After counting age, gender, and underlying conditions, the inability to stand without support on one leg for 10 seconds was associated with an 84% increased risk of death from any cause. The researchers said the study had limitations, including that the participants were all white Brazilians, meaning the findings may not be more widely applicable to other ethnicities and nations. However, the researchers concluded that the 10-second balance test “provides fast and objective feedback to patients and health professionals about static balance” and “adds useful information on the risk of mortality in middle-aged and older men and women.”
