Processed foods, alcohol, sedentary lifestyle…premature death is often associated with a poor lifestyle. However, if these causes constitute the main risk factorssome social factors also play into the balance.
Indeed, this is what has just been demonstrated by an American study, conducted by the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the University of California. During this research, the scientists listed social attributes that might increase early deaths in the elderly. Their results were published in the scientific journal PNAS.
Life expectancy: the test that predicts it
For this study, the researchers relied on information from 8,250 adults aged over 65. At the end of four years of follow-up, 22% of participants died. To determine the factors increasing the risk of premature death, they relied on 183 possible social predictors. Among them, experts kept seven, judged as factors predicting death within four years.
“From our data, we have developed a survey of 10 questions who uses age, sex and social characteristics to predict longevity. This survey also predicts other important outcomes for older adults, how to live independently“, explain the researchers. Indeed, thanks to these questions, the scientists have developed a test available online entitled “social fragility index“, allowing to know the risks related to our social life, and thus assess its longevity.
Longevity: our social lives as important as medical conditions
“We often overemphasize medical conditions when we think to longevity. This research demonstrates that our social lives are as important as medical conditions“, says lead author Sachin J. Shah, a physician-scientist at MGH and Harvard Medical School.
“Disregard the social risks can aggravate social inequalities“, adds Kenneth E. Covinsky, author of the study and clinician-scientist in the Division of Geriatrics at UC San Francisco. Thus, identifying people with health risks related to social problems might help to put in place measures to avoid them. Medisite presents the 7 social factors considered by researchers to be a health risk.
