The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #65223

Robert B Tate, PhD¹, Dennis J Bayomi, BSc¹, and T Edward Cuddy, MD². (1) Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, T148 - 770 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3, Canada, 204-789-3667, tate@ms.umanitoba.ca, (2) Manitoba Follow-up Study, University of Manitoba, T148 - 770 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W3, Canada

The phrase “successful aging” has become widely used in gerontology in recent years to describe a state of being that while generally understood, is perhaps less well-defined operationally. In its 55th year, the Manitoba Follow-up Study has followed a cohort of 3,983 initially healthy, young men with routinely requested medical examinations primarily to prospectively document evidence of cardiovascular disease. By 1996, 2,043 of the cohort were alive at a mean age of 78 years. An extensive mailed questionnaire was returned by 1,821 (89%), 1,771 of whom provided narrative responses to the open ended questions: “What is YOUR definition of successful aging?” and “Would YOU say you have AGED SUCCESSFULLY?”. A content analysis identified twenty themes emerging from these definitions, ranging in frequency from 3% (humour) to 30% (health and illness). During the 6 years following this survey 472 (27%) of the respondents died. The objective of this analysis is to determine whether these themes were related to mortality. A series of Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for age, limitations in activities and self-rated health found significant “risk” ratios for surviving 6 years associated with themes of “keeping active” (1.5), “having a positive outlook” (1.5), “being useful / volunteering” (1.8) and “content” (2.0). Also, those who answered “yes” or “yes, but …” were respectively 4.0 and 2.5 times more likely to survive over the next 6 years than someone who responded “no” to the question: “Would YOU say you have AGED SUCCESSFULLY?”. Further details of these findings and their implications will be presented.

Learning Objectives:

• To describe the value of self-definition and self-evaluation of successful aging, with respect to 6 year mortality, in an elderly male.

Keywords: Aging, Mortality

Related Web page: www.mfus.ca

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.