A new analysis of walking speed …
an older person’s pace, along with their age and gender, can predict their life expectancy just as well as the complex battery of other health details.
So instead of a doctor assessing a patient’s blood pressure, body mass index, chronic conditions, hospitalization history, smoking history and use of mobility aids to estimate survival, a lab assistant could simply time the patient walking a few meters and come up with just as accurate of a prediction of their likelihood of living five or 10 more years—as well as a median life expectancy.