The death and accident rates of left-handed people are generally higher than those of right-handed people, according to a study featured in today's edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study,conducted by California State University at San Bernardino psychology professor Diane Halpern and Stanley Coren,a researcher at the University of British Colombia, examined death certificates and queried relatives about the dominant hand of the deceased.
Halpern and Coren found that left-handed people are four times more likely to die from injuries sustained while driving. Left-handed people are six times more likely to die from any type of accident.
"Almost all engineering is geared to the right hand and right foot," said Halpern, "There are many more car and other accidents among left-handers because of their environment." Left-handed individuals only represent 10 percent of the U.S. population.
Researchers found that, on average, right-handed females tend to live six years longer than their left-handed counterparts, while right-handed males live 11 years longer than left-handed males.
Halpern, said the study should be interpreted with caution. "It should not, of course, be used to predict the life span of any one individual. It does not take into account the fitness of any individual," said Halpern.
Although Halpern admits, "the results [of her study] are striking in magnitude," she insists that the results of this study not be a cause for alarm. "It is important that mothers of left-handed children not be alarmed and not try to change which hand a child uses," Halpern said, "There are many-many old left-handed people."
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