TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Self-reported walking difficulty predicts late-life mortality in Finnish war veterans: results from the  Veteran 1992 Project survey
JO  - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
A1  - Leskinen, Riitta
A1  - Laatikainen, Tiina
A1  - Peltonen, Markku
A1  - Levälahti, Esko
A1  - Antikainen, Riitta
SP  - 118
EP  - 123
VL  - 63
IS  - 1
N2  - OBJECTIVES: To determine risk factors and their combinations that predict late-life mortality. <br><br>DESIGN: Postal questionnaire. SETTING: Veteran 1992 Project Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Finnish Second World War veterans living in Finland (177,989 men, 48,745 women), with a participation rate of 93%. MEASUREMENTS: Main outcomes were total, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and accident and violence (AAV) mortality. Absolute 10-year mortality risks for total mortality with combinations of different risk factors were calculated. <br><br>RESULTS: The strongest predictor of total mortality was self-reported walking difficulty (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.71-1.76 in men without disability, HR = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.58-1.67 in men with disability, HR = 1.61, 95% CI = 1.57-1.65 in women). The highest HRs of CVD mortality were for self-reported walking difficulty among men without disability (HR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.95-2.02) and among men with disability (HR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.82-1.94). In women, the highest HR for CVD mortality was for multimorbidity (HR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.79-1.96). For AAV mortality, the highest HRs were for falls in men and age in women. A combination of walking difficulty and multimorbidity had the highest absolute 10-year mortality risk for total mortality (0.730 in men without disability, 0.729 in men with disability, 0.487 in women). <br><br>CONCLUSION: Self-reported walking difficulty was the most important predictor of total mortality in all veteran groups and for CVD mortality in men. The study demonstrates the importance of self-reported walking difficulty and multimorbidity as markers of high mortality risk in Finnish war veterans.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0002-8614
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13201
ID  - ref1
ER  -