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Lawrence J Whalley a Department of
Mental Health, University of Aberdeen, Clinical Research Centre,
Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen AB24 2ZD, b Department of Psychology,
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ
Correspondence
to: I J Deary I.Deary{at}ed.ac.uk
Objectives:
To test the association between childhood IQ and mortality over the normal human lifespan.
What is already known on this topic
What this study adds
Design:
Longitudinal cohort study.
Setting:
Aberdeen.
Subjects:
All 2792 children in Aberdeen born in 1921 and attending school on 1 June 1932 who sat a mental ability test as
part of the Scottish mental survey 1932.
Main outcome measure:
Survival at 1 January 1997.
Results:
79.9% (2230) of the sample was traced.
Childhood mental ability was positively related to survival to age 76 years in women (P<0.0001) and men (P<0.0001). A 15 point disadvantage in mental ability at age 11 conferred a relative risk of 0.79 of being
alive 65 years later (95% confidence interval 0.75 to 0.84); a 30 point disadvantage reduced this to 0.63 (0.56 to 0.71). However, men
who died during active service in the second world war had a relatively
high IQ. Overcrowding in the school catchment area was weakly related
to death. Controlling for this factor did not alter the association
between mental ability and mortality.
Conclusion:
Childhood mental ability is a significant factor among the variables that predict age at death.
People in deprived conditions tend to have more illness and die
younger
IQ at age 11 years was significantly associated with survival up to 76 years in an Aberdeen cohort
Israeli students are refusing to perform intimate examinations on anaesthetised women without their informed consent.