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The simple exercise of sitting down and standing up again without holding onto anything, could suggest how long you have to live.

This is the belief of a group of physicians, who came up with the 'sitting-rising test' to measure their patients' flexibility and strength.

They developed a scoring system for the test and found that people who scored three points or less out of 10, were more than five times as likely to die within six years, as those who scored more than eight points. 

The simple exercise of sitting down and standing up again without holding onto anything, could suggest how long you have to live. This diagram shows how to take the 'sitting rising test'

Claudio Gil Araujo, of Gama Filho University in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was among the doctors who originally developed the sitting rising test (SRT) to quickly assess the flexibility of athletes, but he now uses it to persuade his patients that they need to stay active to maintain their muscle and balance, and live longer, Discover Magazine reported.  

As we age, our muscles tend to become weaker and a loss of balance means we are increasingly likely to fall.

Current ways to test frailty can be time-consuming, impractical and inaccurate for small doctors' surgeries, but experts are keen to keep older people moving.

As we age, our muscles tend to become weaker and a loss of balance means we are increasingly likely to fall. Doctors are keen for older people to keep exercising - a stock image of  a class in Florida is pictured

Dr Araujo says that anyone can take the SRT because no equipment is needed. 

In a study, published in the European Journal of Cardiology, the researchers described how 2002 adults aged between 51 and 80 took the SRT at Clinimex Exercise Medicine Clinic in Rio.

They found that patients who scored fewer than eight points out of 10 on the test, were twice as likely to die within the next six years, compared with people with more perfect scores.

One point was deducted each time a person used their hand or knee for support to either sit down or stand up, while half a point was deducted for losing their balance.

The experts found that people who scored three points or fewer, were more than five times as likely to die within the same period.

They wrote in the study: 'Musculoskeletal fitness, as assessed by SRT, was a significant predictor of mortality in 51–80-year-old subjects.'

The study found that every point increase in the test, was linked to a 21 per cent decrease in mortality from all causes.

However, chartered physio-therapist Sammy Margo said that the exercise may be 'quite ambitious' for older people in the UK who are not used to regularly sitting on the floor, like in some other cultures. 

In this way, it may not be terribly accurate at predicting life expectancy.

She told MailOnline that there is a risk that people with early signs of arthritis in the knee could feel the strain when trying the exercise, which is why UK physiotherapists tend to prefer another test, where patients stand up from a sitting position and see how many times they can repeat the action in a given period of time.

'The "sit to stand" test is more appropriate and is used as a prognostic,' she said, adding that the SRT does 'address everything' in terms of a person's strength and flexibility.