Remaining physically active protects against the risk of mortality for people aged over 50, a new study has found.
Researchers from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (Tilda) in Trinity College Dublin created a “mortality risk index” — a tool to identify those at high mortality risk, who may benefit from additional care and support.
The index structure incorporated age, gender, diagnoses of disease and functional limitations.
The research found that difficulty walking 100m and lifting 10lb (4.5kg) were both associated with an increased risk of dying in the following four years.
The research, which was published in the BMC Geriatrics journal, states the index can be used during patient interactions without the need for a full clinical history and utilised to develop care strategies.
Peter May, research assistant professor at Tilda, and senior author of the report, said mortality risk naturally increases across life and in part due to factors beyond control.
“Older age, male sex, a history of smoking, a prior heart attack and a prior cancer diagnosis were among those factors associated with increased mortality risk,” he said. “But the relationship between functional difficulties and mortality reported here was identified after controlling for such factors.”
He added: “The resulting index can support researchers and clinicians in identifying in advance those people with growing mortality risk who may be in need of additional care and supports.”
Dr May added that the Irish results are consistent with international research, with the results being “extremely similar” to those observed in studies in the United States and England.
Mortality
Soraya Matthews, lead author of the study and research assistant in health policy and management at Trinity, explained that people can also take important steps to reduce their mortality risk.
“There are some risk factors we can’t do much about, like age, sex and disease history. But other factors may be modifiable; in particular difficulty walking, rising and lifting,” she said.
“For older people who are active, it is important to maintain that activity. For people who are not, difficulties are often reversible with appropriate support. And of course, if you are a smoker, it is beneficial to stop at any age.”
Prof Rose Anne Kenny, prominent geriatrician and Tilda’s principal investigator, said the mortality risk index could have wide application to general practice.
“It is the first time such an index has been developed using such a detailed dataset in Ireland,” she said.
“It improves our ability to identify those at high mortality risk who may need additional supports. Furthermore, it reinforces that remaining active and building muscle strength is key to ageing as well as possible for as long as possible.”
