Study rejects theory lower IQ linked to early death

Study rejects theory lower IQ linked to early death

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Thursday, 02, Jul 2009 12:11

A new study has rejected the theory that lower IQ alone can predict the chances of dying early.

The study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health said other factors, such as risky behaviour during adolescence, mental health problems, and social circumstances as an adult cancel out the impact of low IQ.

The findings are based on studies on almost 44,000 men, all of whom had been born between 1949 and 1951 and were called up for compulsory military service in Sweden between 1969 and 70.

The conscripts underwent a comprehensive range of tests to assess logic, general intelligence, verbal ability, visuospatial perception, and technical and mathematical abilities, to produce an overall IQ score.

The men also underwent a complete health screen for physical and mental problems and provided information on their backgrounds, which was then linked to national census returns.

Information on their subsequent progress through life was then also collated.

Researchers found that when the men's deaths were analysed by IQ alone, a clear pattern emerged: the lower the IQ, the greater was the risk of dying between the ages of 40 and 54. Those who had the lowest IQ score were over three times more likely to die early in middle age than those with the highest score.

However, when other risk factors, such as childhood social circumstances, adolescent behaviour and mental health, and adult social circumstances were added to the analysis, this association "all but disappeared".

The authors of the report finish by stating that adjusting for childhood factors cut the strength of the association between lower IQ and early death by 40 per cent, while taking account of social factors in adult life reduced it by 73 per cent.