What a simple balance test may say about your overall health

Joseph Guzman | June 22, 2022
·3 min read

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.

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The study looked at 1,702 people from Brazil — about two thirds of whom were men — aged 51 to 75 between 2009 and 2020 with stable gait. Participants were asked to balance unsupported on one leg during an initial check. To standardize the test, researchers then asked participants to place the front of their free foot on the back of the standing lower leg while keeping their arms by their sides and eyes fixed straight ahead. Up to three attempts on either foot were allowed.

Overall, 1 in 5 participants failed to pass the test and the inability to do so unsurprisingly increased with age. More than half of participants aged 71-75 were unable to complete the test.

Those who failed the balance test generally had conditions such as obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.

Over a seven year monitoring period, 123 participants died from causes including cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and COVID-19 complications, and researchers found 4.5 percent of those who could successfully stand on one leg died, compared with more than 17 percent of participants who failed the test.

The inability to successfully complete the 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.

Researchers note that the study was observational and doesn’t demonstrate cause and effect, but said the test “adds useful information regarding mortality risk in middle-aged and older men and women.”

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