Remaining physically active protects against risk of mortality in people over the age of 50, new research from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) has found.

TILDA researchers created a ‘mortality risk index’, which is a tool to identify those at high risk of mortality who may benefit from additional care and support.

The tool was based on existing international mortality indices from the UK and US and this allowed the researchers to compare Ireland’s performance with these international indices.

A total of 8,174 TILDA participants were included and six baseline predictor categories were examined, including demographics, cardiovascular-related illness and healthcare utilisation.

The study found that among those over the age of 50, difficulty walking 100m and difficulty lifting 10lb were both associated with an increased risk of dying in the following four years.

“Mortality risk naturally increases across the life course and in part due to factors beyond our 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. But the relationship between functional difficulties and mortality reported here was identified after controlling for such factors,” explained the study’s senior author, Dr Peter May, a research assistant professor with TILDA.

According to lead author and research assistant at Trinity College Dublin, Soraya Matthews, while the risk of mortality increases as we age, “that’s far from the whole story”.

“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. 

“For older people who are active, it is important to maintain that activity. For people who are not, difficulties are often reversible with appropriate supports. And of course if you are a smoker, it is beneficial to stop at any age,” she noted.

Dr May pointed out that the Irish results were consistent with international findings and he emphasised that the mortality tool can support doctors and researchers in identifying in advance people who may have an increased risk of mortality.

This was also highlighted by TILDA’s principal investigator, Prof Rose Anne Kenny, who noted that the development of a mortality risk index using simple measures “may have wide application to general practice”.

“It is the first time such an index has been developed using such a detailed dataset in Ireland. 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 are key to ageing as well as possible, for as long as possible,” she said.

The study is published in the journal, BMC Geriatrics and can be viewed here.