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ABSTRACT: Objective
To determine the speed at which the Grim Reaper (or Death) walks.Design
Population based prospective study.Setting
Older community dwelling men living in Sydney, Australia.Participants
1705 men aged 70 or more participating in CHAMP (Concord Health and Ageing in Men Project).Main outcome measures
Walking speed (m/s) and mortality. Receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was used to calculate the area under the curve for walking speed and determine the walking speed of the Grim Reaper. The optimal walking speed was estimated using the Youden index (sensitivity + specificity-1), a common summary measure of the receiver operating characteristics curve, and represents the maximum potential effectiveness of a marker.Results
The mean walking speed was 0.88 (range 0.15-1.60) m/s. The highest Youden index (0.293) was observed at a walking speed of 0.82 m/s (2 miles (about 3 km) per hour), corresponding to a sensitivity of 63% and a specificity of 70% for mortality. Survival analysis showed that older men who walked faster than 0.82 m/s were 1.23 times less likely to die (95% confidence interval 1.10 to 1.37) than those who walked slower (P = 0.0003). A sensitivity of 1.0 was obtained when a walking speed of 1.36 m/s (3 miles (about 5 km) per hour) or greater was used, indicating that no men with walking speeds of 1.36 m/s or greater had contact with Death.Conclusion
The Grim Reaper's preferred walking speed is 0.82 m/s (2 miles (about 3 km) per hour) under working conditions. As none of the men in the study with walking speeds of 1.36 m/s (3 miles (about 5 km) per hour) or greater had contact with Death, this seems to be the Grim Reaper's most likely maximum speed; for those wishing to avoid their allotted fate, this would be the advised walking speed.
SUBMITTER: Stanaway FF
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3240682 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature