Longitudinal cohort study of childhood IQ and survival up to age 76

Objectives: To test the association between childhood IQ and mortality over the normal human lifespan. Design: Longitudinal cohort study. Setting: Aberdeen. Subjects: All 2792 children in Aberdeen born in 1921 and attending school on 1 June 1932 who sat a mental ability test as part of the Scottish mental survey 1932. Main outcome measure: Survival at 1 January 1997. Results: 79.9% (2230) of the sample was traced. Childhood mental ability was positively related to survival to age 76 years in women (P