title: Left-handedness and mortality.
abstract: We examined mortality associated with handedness in two ways. A simulation using national data suggests that lower mean age at death among left-handed persons, previously offered as evidence of higher mortality, can be explained exclusively by the age distribution of laterality. Second, empiric evidence from a 6-year cohort study of 3774 older adults from East Boston, Massachusetts, demonstrates that left-handedness is not associated with mortality (relative odds = 1.04, 95% confidence interval = 0.79, 1.36).
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, Demography and Biometry Program, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Salive
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Guralnik
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Glynn
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009026:Mortality; D012307:Risk Factors