'Sit to Stand' Test Predicts Longevity?

Claim:

Failing a "sit-to-stand" or "sit-rise" test, which entails standing up from the floor with legs crossed, without using hands, arms, knees or side of the legs, means one has a higher likelihood of dying in six years.

Rating:

What's True:

The test is a good measure of physical strength and mobility, which are important to cultivate as one ages because falls are the leading cause of injury-related death after the age of 65. However ...

What's False:

... The test is only a measure of strength and mobility, not a measure of longevity. In fact, there are better ways to measure longevity.

In February 2024, a post on X went viral arguing that if one cannot be seated cross-legged on the floor and stand back up without bracing oneself, one might be more likely to die in six years:

The post, which had accumulated 6.3 million views, 6,900 likes and 1,000 reshares as of this writing, included a video demonstrating the way to sit and stand up, a clip from a 2023 segment on the Today Show on NBC.

This idea has circulated since 2012, when a study from Brazil measured the ability of 2,002 people aged 51 to 80 to sit and stand up from the floor unassisted, without using hands, arms, knees or the sides of their legs. The researchers would grade each half of the exercise 5 points and subtract points each time a person used one of the forbidden body parts to help themselves. They found that the people who scored lowest, between zero and three, were five to six more times likely to die in six years, and the team concluded that the sitting-rising test (SRT) should be included in health evaluations.

But age matters here. The test requires balance, strength and flexibility, qualities that are important to cultivate at all ages, but more particularly in the elderly as a way to prevent falls, which are a top cause of injury-related deaths. In that sense, it can give healthcare providers a good indicator of muscle loss in an elderly person. But the test is limited in who it can evaluate: A younger, healthy person with a knee injury might not easily pass, for example. Also, it does not measure one's risk of cancer or cardiovascular disease, which are the first and second causes of premature death in 130 countries in the world. For this reason, we have rated the claim a mixture of truths and falsehoods.

Here, a team of younger and older adults at The Washington Post attempted to do the test:

The truth is, someone can always work on improving balance, flexibility and strength. If one fails the test one year, one can start to practice and pass it the next. Meanwhile, experts say there are better tests of longevity out there. Walking fast is a good one. In 2019, The Washington Post interviewed Greg Hartley, of the Miami Miller School of Medicine and the president of the Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy. "If you can walk at your natural pace at two miles per hour or faster, you're a lot less likely to die in the next 10 years," Hartley told the newspaper. "Walking speed is highly correlated to mortality."

Other, better tests of longevity include men's ability to do pushups, or even grip strength.

Generally speaking, though, the old axiom applies: Exercising and moving are the best way to stay in good health for a long time.

Sources:

Bohannon, Richard W. 'Grip Strength: An Indispensable Biomarker For Older Adults'. Clinical Interventions in Aging, vol. 14, Oct. 2019, pp. 1681–91. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.2147/CIA.S194543.

Bray, Freddie, et al. 'Comparing Cancer and Cardiovascular Disease Trends in 20 Middle- or High-Income Countries 2000–19: A Pointer to National Trajectories towards Achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.4'. Cancer Treatment Reviews, vol. 100, Nov. 2021, p. None. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctrv.2021.102290.

Brito, Leonardo Barbosa Barreto de. 'Ability to Sit and Rise from the Floor as a Predictor of All-Cause Mortality'. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, https://geriatrictoolkit.missouri.edu/srff/deBrito-Floor-Rise-Mortality-2012..pdf.

'This Anxiety-Inducing Fitness Test Purports to Tell You How Long You'll Live. We Investigated.' Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2019. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/this-anxiety-inducing-fitness-test-purports-to-tell-you-how-long-youll-live-we-investigated/2019/03/18/0a1d06fe-4035-11e9-9361-301ffb5bd5e6_story.html.

'Try the Sit-to-Stand Test to See How Healthy Your Heart Is'. TODAY.Com, 8 Mar. 2023, https://www.today.com/health/sit-to-stand-test-rcna73986.

Yang, Justin, et al. 'Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men'. JAMA Network Open, vol. 2, no. 2, Feb. 2019, p. e188341. Silverchair, https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.8341.