A simple lifestyle score predicts survival in healthy elderly men.
BACKGROUND
Although improvements in life expectancy have been attributed in part to the adoption of a more prudent lifestyle, few studies have examined the association of lifestyle with survival, using several lifestyle factors simultaneously, in a healthy elderly population.


METHODS
We investigated the association of health related behaviors with mortality in 7989 men aged 65 to 83 years participating in a population-based trial in Perth, Western Australia, by calculating a lifestyle score as a simple tally of how many of eight prudent behaviors each individual followed.


RESULTS
Invitations to screening produced a corrected response of 70.5%. Out of a possible score of 8, 46% of men had a score of less than 5. Within 5 years, a total of 703 men (9%) had died from any cause. The hazard ratio in men with a low lifestyle score was 1.3 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-1.5] compared with men with a score of 5 or more.


CONCLUSIONS
Lifestyle remains an important predictor of mortality even in old age. Survival in older men without a history of cardiovascular disease can potentially be enhanced by promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Spencer
Carole A
CA
School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, Clifton St, Nedlands, Western Australia 6907, Australia.
Jamrozik
Konrad
K
Norman
Paul E
PE
Lawrence-Brown
Michael
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009026:Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016019:Survival Analysis