scholarly journals Analyzing Adjustment to Aging and Subjective Age from Angolan and Portuguese Community-dwelling Older Adults' Perspectives

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 209-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia von Humboldt ◽  
Isabel Leal ◽  
Filipa Pimenta
2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 271-271
Author(s):  
Yuxiao Li ◽  
Minhui Liu ◽  
Christina Miyawaki ◽  
Xiaocao Sun ◽  
Tianxue Hou ◽  
...  

Abstract Frailty is a clinical syndrome that becomes increasingly common as people age. Subjective age refers to how young or old individuals experience themselves to be. It is associated with many risk factors of frailty, such as increased depression, worse cognitive function, and poorer psychological wellbeing. In this study, we examined the relationship between subjective age and frailty using the 2011-2015 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Participants were community-dwelling older adults without frailty in the initial wave (N=1,165). Subjective age was measured by asking participants, “What age do you feel most of the time?” Based on the Fried five phenotypic criteria: exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, low physical activity, slow gait, and weak grip strength, frailty was categorized into robust=0, pre-frail=1 or 2; frail=3 or more criteria met. Participants were, on average, 74.1±6.5 years old, female (52%), and non-Hispanic White (81%). Eighty-five percent of the participants felt younger, and 3% felt older than their chronological age, but 41% of them were pre-frail/frail. Generalized estimating equations revealed that an “older” subjective age predicted a higher likelihood of pre-frailty and frailty (OR, 95%CI= 1.01, 1.01-1.02). In contrast, frailty predicted an “older” subjective age (OR, 95%CI= 2.97, 1.65-5.35) adjusting for demographics and health conditions. These findings suggest a bidirectional relationship between subjective age and frailty. Older people who feel younger than their chronological age are at reduced risk of becoming pre-frail/frail. Intervention programs to delay frailty progression should include strategies that may help older adults perceive a younger subjective age.


GeroPsych ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yaakov Hoffman ◽  
Amit Shrira ◽  
Ehud Bodner

Abstract. This study had three goals: (1) to address daily links between subjective age and the three psychological distress facets (depression/anxiety/somatization); (2) to examine whether such links would be stronger under higher posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) levels; (3) to assess which PTSD cluster is most relevant. The sample (168 community-dwelling-older-adults, mean age = 73.48, 46% female) completed an online, web-based questionnaire across 14 consecutive days. Results show that on the days participants felt older, they reported higher psychological distress, which was further exacerbated by higher PTSD levels. The PTSD cluster of intrusive thoughts was most relevant. The discussion addresses the “double-burden” view, two theories of subjective age (resource/stress vs. ageism), and finally interventions for daily psychological distress reduction amongst older adults.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxiao Li ◽  
Minhui Liu ◽  
Christina E. Miyawaki ◽  
Xiaocao Sun ◽  
Tianxue Hou ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Subjective age refers to how young or old individuals experience themselves to be and is associated with health status, behavioral, cognitive, and biological processes that influence frailty. However, little research has examined the relationship between subjective age and frailty among older adults. This study examined the bidirectional association between subjective age and frailty among community-dwelling older adults. Methods We used data from the 2011 to 2015 waves of the National Health and Aging Trends Study. Our sample consists of 2,592 community-dwelling older adults with complete data on main outcome variables. Subjective age was measured by asking participants, “What age do you feel most of the time?” Based on the five phenotypic criteria: exhaustion, unintentional weight loss, low physical activity, slow gait, and weak grip strength, frailty was categorized into robust = 0, pre-frailty = 1 or 2; frailty = 3 or more criteria met. Generalized estimating equation models were used to examine the concurrent and lagged association between subjective age and frailty. Results Participants were, on average, 75.2 ± 6.8 years old, non-Hispanic whites (76 %), female (58 %). 77 % of the participants felt younger, 18 % felt the same, and 5 % felt older than their chronological age. About 45 %, 46 %, and 9 % of the participants were robust, pre-frailty and frailty in the first wave, respectively. Generalized estimating equations revealed that an “older” subjective age predicted a higher likelihood of pre-frailty and frailty (OR, 95 % CI = 1.93, 1.45–2.56). Conclusions These findings suggest that people with older subjective age are more likely to be pre-frail/frail. Subjective age could be used as a quick and economical screening for those who are potentially frailty or at risk for frailty.


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