In a new study from the University of Pittsburgh, researchers found that how fatigued certain activities make an older person feel can predict the likelihood of death being less than three years away.
Older people who scored the highest in terms of how tired or exhausted they would feel after activities were more than twice as likely to die in the following 2.7 years compared to their counterparts who scored lower.
Fatigability was assessed for a range of activities using the novel Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale.
Previous studies have shown that getting more physical activity can reduce a person’s fatigability.
This study is the first to link more severe physical fatigability to an earlier death. The lead author Nancy W. Glynn, Ph.D. hopes the findings provide encouragement for people to stick with exercise goals in the New Year’s resolutions.
In the current study, the team conducted the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale to 2,906 participants aged 60 or older in the Long Life Family Study.
Participants ranged from 0 to 5 how tired they thought or imagined that certain activities—such as a leisurely 30-minute walk, light housework or heavy gardening—would make them.
After accounting for a variety of factors that influence mortality, such as depression, pre-existing or underlying terminal illness, age and gender, the team found that participants who scored 25 points or higher on the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale were 2.3 times more likely to die in the 2.7 years after completing the scale, compared to their counterparts who scored below 25.
Beyond tying high fatigability to an earlier death, the study demonstrates the value of the Pittsburgh Fatigability Scale, which was created in 2014. It has since been translated into 11 languages.
If you care about exercise, please read studies that exercise can offer unlimited health benefits to your heart and this simple exercise may lower blood pressure more effectively.
For more information about wellness, please see recent studies that this exercise method may boost health in people with type 2 diabetes, and results showing these exercises may help reduce fatty liver disease.
The study was conducted by Nancy W Glynn et al., and published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series A.
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