Handedness and longevity: archival study of cricketers

Aggleton, John, Bland, Martin, Kentridge, Robert and Neave, Nick (1994) Handedness and longevity: archival study of cricketers. British Medical Journal, 309 (6970). pp. 1681-1684. ISSN 0959-8138

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Abstract

Objective: To test whether handedness is associated with a change in longevity.

Design: Archival survey.

Setting: British Isles. Subjects—All first class cricketers born before 1961 whose bowling hand was specified (right, n=5041; left, n=1132) in a comprehensive encyclopaedia.

Main outcome measures: Bowling hand and life span.

Results: Regression analysis of the 5960 players born between 1840 and 1960 (3387 dead, 2573 alive) showed no significant relation between mortality and handedness (P=0.3). Left handedness was, however, associated with an increased likelihood of death from unnatural causes (P=0.03, log hazard 0.37, 95% confidence interval 0.04 to 0.70). This effect was especially related to deaths during warfare (P=0.009, log hazard 0.53, 0.13 to 0.92).

Conclusion: Left handedness is not, in general, associated with an increase in mortality.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Psychology
Depositing User:	Becky Skoyles
Date Deposited:	21 Mar 2017 15:04
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2019 23:01
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/30140

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