Will You Die in 5 Years? This New Test May Tell You
The researchers found that the strongest predictor that a man will die is how he reports his overall health, and the strongest predictor that a woman will die is whether she has had a previous cancer diagnosis. Smoking was a close second. (Photo: Getty Images)
If scientists developed a way for you to find out whether you’re likely to die in the next five years, would you want to know the answer? There’s a new science-backed questionnaire that promises to do just that.
Researchers in Sweden have created a simple online test called the UbbLE Risk Calculator that they say can determine your chances of dying in the next five years as well as your “age” based on your health.
The test, which takes just five minutes to complete and involves 11 questions for women and 13 questions for men, is based on data collected from nearly 500,000 people in the U.K. That data can also be found in a study just published in the medical journal, The Lancet.
The questionnaire is free for anyone to take. The only caveat: It’s designed for people who are 40 to 70 years old.
Interested in taking the test? Here’s what you can expect:
If you’re a woman…
How old are you?
How many children have you given birth to?
Do you smoke?
How often have you smoked in the past?
In general, how would you rate your overall health?
Do you have any long-standing illness, disability, or infirmity?
How would you describe your usual walking pace?
Have you ever seen a doctor for nerves, anxiety, tension, or depression?
Has a doctor ever told you that you have had cancer?
In the past two years have you experienced any of the following?
Serious illness, injury, or assault to yourself or a close relative
Death of a close relative
Marital separation or divorce
Financial difficulties
11. Do you receive attendance allowance, disability allowance, or a blue badge? [i.e. “are you considered disabled?”]
If you’re a man…
How old are you?
How many cars or vans are available to your household?
How many people live in your home?
Who are the people you live with? (wife/partner, children, etc.)
Do you smoke?
How often have you smoked in the past?
In general, how would you rate your overall health?
How would you describe your usual walking pace?
Has a doctor ever told you that you have diabetes?
Has a doctor ever told you that you have had cancer?
Has a doctor ever told you that you have had any of the following conditions?
Heart attack
Angina
Stroke
High blood pressure
12. In the past two years have you experienced any of the following?
Serious illness, injury, or assault to yourself or a close relative
Death of a close relative
Marital separation or divorce
Financial difficulties
13. Do you receive attendance allowance, disability allowance, or a blue badge? [i.e. “are you considered disabled?”]
After taking the test, users are given their results as well as a link to health data obtained British health resource, Biobank, which explains why they received the score that they did. Some answers increase your risk of dying within the next five years, the site says, while others decrease it.
While this is a cool concept, study researcher Erik Ingelsson, MD, PhD, a professor of molecular epidemiology at Sweden’s Uppsala University tells Yahoo Health that it has a practical application. “There has been a lack of reliable scores to evaluate prediction of death in general population,” he says. “This is important because it can increase self-awareness and, in the future, potentially allow health-care professionals to identify high risk individuals.”
Related: What’s The Most ‘Distinctive’ Killer in Your State?
The questionnaire is pretty reliable, too: Ingelsson notes that its results are 80 percent accurate. “That means that out of 10 pairs of individuals where one dies and one survives, eight out of 10 times you will correctly identify those that die using the prediction score,” he explains.
Ingelsson’s research found that the strongest predictor that a man will die is how he reports his overall health, and the strongest predictor that a woman will die is whether she has had a previous cancer diagnosis. Major diseases aside, smoking habits were the next strongest predictor that a person won’t survive the next five years.
Ingelsson says he hopes his findings will help increase health awareness and provide inspiration for lifestyle changes in the general population.
Want to take the test? Just click here.
Read This Next: Overdosing on Caffeine Is a Deadly Trend
Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Health on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest. Have a personal health story to share? We want to hear it. Tell us at YHTrueStories@yahoo.com.
