Objective: The association between patterns of change in self-rated health (SRH) and memory trajectories in older adults was examined using a systematic approach. Method: Data from the Health and ...Retirement Study (n = 6,016) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (n = 734) were analyzed. Individuals were grouped into five categories according to their pattern of change in SRH over 8 years: stable excellent/very good/good, stable fair/poor, improvement, decline, and fluctuating pattern without a trend. Memory was measured using immediate and delayed recall tests. Kruskal–Wallis, chi-squares tests, and linear mixed models were used to examine the association. Results: Different rates of decline in memory can be identified in the different patterns of change in SRH. Those who had a stable excellent/very good/good pattern had the slowest rate of decline. Discussion: Our findings suggest that SRH status and patterns of change could be used as a marker of cognitive decline in prevention screening programs.
ObjectivesTo investigate associations between a range of different indicators of socioeconomic position (SEP: occupational class, education, household overcrowding and tenure, and experience of ...financial hardship) across life and chronic widespread and regional pain (CWP and CRP) at age 68.DesignProspective birth cohort; the Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development.SettingEngland, Scotland and Wales.ParticipantsUp to 2378 men and women who have been followed-up since birth in 1946 to age 68.Primary outcome measuresOn the basis of their self-report of pain at age 68, participants were classified as: CWP (American College of Rheumatology criteria), CRP (pain of at least 3 months’ duration but that does not meet the definition of CWP), other pain (<3 months in duration) or no pain.ResultsAt age 68, the prevalence of CWP was 13.3% and 7.8% in women and men, respectively, and that of CRP was 32.3% and 28.7% in women and men, respectively. There was no clear evidence that indicators of SEP in childhood or later adulthood were associated with pain. Having experienced (vs not) financial hardship and being a tenant (vs owner-occupier) in earlier adulthood were both associated with an increased risk of CWP; for example, moderate hardship adjusted relative risk ratio (RRRadj) 2.32 (95% CI: 1.19 to 4.52) and most hardship RRRadj 4.44 (95% CI: 2.02 to 9.77). Accumulation of financial hardship across earlier and later adulthood was also associated with an increased risk of CWP.ConclusionsConsideration of socioeconomic factors in earlier adulthood may be important when identifying targets for intervention to prevent CWP in later life.
The aim of the current study was to identify specific patterns of physical multimorbidity and examine how these patterns associated with changes in social participation over time.
We used latent ...class analysis to identify clusters of physical multimorbidity in 11,391 older adults. Mixed effects regression models were used to assess associations between physical multimorbidity clusters and changes in social participation over 15 years.
Four clusters of physical multimorbidity were identified. All physical multimorbidity clusters were associated with a reduction in cultural engagement (e.g. visits to theatre, cinema, museums) over time, with the strongest association seen in the complex/multisystem cluster (β = −0.26, 95% CI = −0.38 to −0.15). Similar results emerged for leisure activities. Adjusting for depressive symptoms fully attenuated some associations. All physical multimorbidity clusters were associated with an increase in civic participation over time.
Physical multimorbidity reduced some aspects of social participation over time, with specific combinations of conditions having increased risk of reductions.
Supplemental data for this article is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2021.2017847
Maintenance of healthy cognitive ageing is vital for independence and wellbeing in the older general population. We investigated the association between blood metabolites and cognitive function and ...decline. Participants from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD, the British 1946 birth cohort) were studied; 233 nuclear magnetic resonance circulating metabolite measures were quantified in 909 men and women at ages 60-64. Short-term and delayed verbal memory and processing speed were concurrently assessed and these tests were repeated at age 69. Linear regression analyses tested associations between metabolites and cognitive function at ages 60-64, and changes in these measures by age 69, adjusting for childhood cognition, education, socio-economic status and lifestyle factors. In cross-sectional analyses, metabolite levels, particularly fatty acid composition and different lipid sub-classes, were associated with short-term verbal memory (4 measures in females and 11 measures in the whole sample), delayed verbal memory (2 measures in females) and processing speed (8 measures in males and 2 measures in the whole sample) (p < 0.002). One metabolite was associated with change in cognition in females. Most of the observed associations were attenuated after adjustment for childhood cognition and education. A life course perspective can improve the understanding of how peripheral metabolic processes underlie cognitive ageing.
The number of informal caregivers within ageing population is increasing and there is a growing research interest to promote their well-being, and therefore there is a need for adequate measurement ...tools. We aim to provide validity evidence of the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) in a representative sample of British older adults, including measurement invariance across caregivers and non-caregivers.
Data was drawn from English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). The sample consisted of 3,754 caregivers and 4,036 non-caregivers. The structure and measurement invariance were tested through a confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability and validity evidence based on relationships with other variables were also analysed.
Our results supported the one-factor structure of the SWLS, CFI = .996; NNFI = .993; RMSEA = 0.081, and measurement invariance across caregiving status. McDonald´s omega was .93. Scores on the SWLS were positively correlated with quality of life, positive social support, and self-reported health, and negatively with loneliness, depression, negative social support, difficulties in activities and instrumental activities of daily living, and number of health conditions.
These findings provide new psychometric evidence to support the use of the SWLS in research which focuses on caregivers and on the comparison with non-caregiver samples.
•Neuroticism is associated with higher risk of mortality.•Extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness are associated with lower mortality.•Smoking has a small mediating effect on the ...neuroticism-mortality association.•These effects are consistent across 15 long term longitudinal studies.•Baseline age and country-of-origin partially explain heterogeneity in effects.
This study examined the Big Five personality traits as predictors of mortality risk, and smoking as a mediator of that association. Replication was built into the fabric of our design: we used a Coordinated Analysis with 15 international datasets, representing 44,094 participants. We found that high neuroticism and low conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were consistent predictors of mortality across studies. Smoking had a small mediating effect for neuroticism. Country and baseline age explained variation in effects: studies with older baseline age showed a pattern of protective effects (HR<1.00) for openness, and U.S. studies showed a pattern of protective effects for extraversion. This study demonstrated coordinated analysis as a powerful approach to enhance replicability and reproducibility, especially for aging-related longitudinal research.
Although there is growing research on the excessive use of Facebook and its correlates, most studies to date are not directly comparable or generalizable to the overall population as their samples ...are often limited to students and they use different assessment tools. The first aim of our study was to develop a Spanish version of the Facebook Intrusion Questionnaire (FIQ-S), an instrument which emphasises the social components and consequences of excessive Facebook use. Second, we aimed to examine its psychometric properties: factor structure, reliability and external validity.
Participants were 567 Spanish adults who completed an online battery of questionnaires, including variables related to addictive behaviours.
Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, using a cross-validation strategy, supported a one-factor structure. The composite reliability value was adequate. Evidence of external validity was provided via correlational analysis, showing a negative association with self-control and positive associations with time spent using social networking sites, problematic mobile phone use, internet addiction, phubbing, fear of missing out and depression.
Results are consistent with the original validation study and confirm the addictive component of the construct measured and highlight the impact of Facebook abuse on mental health.
We aimed to identify the hierarchy of rates of decline in 16 physical functioning measures in U.S. and English samples, using a systematic and integrative coordinated data analysis approach.
The U.S. ...sample consisted of 13,612 Health and Retirement Study participants, and the English sample consisted of 5,301 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing participants. Functional loss was ascertained using self-reported difficulties performing 6 activities of daily living and 10 mobility tasks. The variables were standardized, rates of decline were computed, and mean rates of decline were ranked. Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to compare rates of decline between studies.
In both studies, the rates of decline followed a similar pattern; difficulty with eating was the activity that showed the slowest decline and climbing several flights of stairs and stooping, kneeling, or crouching the fastest declines. There were statistical differences in the speed of decline in all 16 measures between countries. American women had steeper declines in 10 of the measures than English women. Similar differences were found between American and English men.
Reporting difficulties climbing several flights of stairs without resting, and stooping, kneeling, or crouching are the first indicators of functional loss reported in both populations.
The relationship between caregiving and cognition remains unclear. We investigate this association comparing four cognitive tasks and exploring the role of potential explanatory pathways such as ...healthy behaviours (healthy caregiver hypothesis) and depression (stress process model).
Respondents were from English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) (N = 8910). Cognitive tasks included immediate and delayed word recall, verbal fluency and serial 7 subtraction. Series of hierarchical linear regressions were performed. Adjustments included socio-demographics, health related variables, health behaviours and depression.
Being a caregiver was positively associated with immediate and delayed recall, verbal fluency but not with serial 7. For immediate and delayed recall, these associations were partially attenuated when adjusting for health behaviours, and depression. For verbal fluency, associations were partially attenuated when adjusting for depression but fully attenuated when adjusting for health behaviours. No associations were found for serial 7.
Our findings show that caregivers have higher level of memory and executive function compared to non-caregivers. For memory, we found that although health behaviours and depression can have a role in this association, they do not fully explain it. However, health behaviours seem to have a clear role in the association with executive function. Public health and policy do not need to target specifically cognitive function but other areas as the promotion of healthy behaviours and psychological adjustment such as preventing depression and promoting physical activity in caregivers.
This study aimed to examine the associations between serious illness in earlier life and risk of pain in old age using data from a large nationally representative British birth cohort, the Medical ...Research Council (MRC) National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD). Serious illness was defined as any experience of illness before age 25 requiring hospital admission of ≥28 days. Pain was self-reported at age 68, with chronic widespread pain (CWP) defined according to American College of Rheumatology criteria. Multinomial logistic regression was used to test associations of serious illness in early life with CWP, chronic regional pain (CRP), and other pain, with no pain as the referent category. Adjustment was made for sex, socioeconomic position, adult health status, health behaviours, and psychosocial factors. Of 2401 NSHD participants with complete data, 10.5% reported CWP (13.2% of women and 7.7% of men), 30.2% reported CRP, and 14.8% other pain. Compared with those with no history of serious illness, those who experienced serious illness in early life had a higher likelihood of CWP (relative risk ratio RRR = 1.62 95% CI: 1.21-2.17) and of CRP (RRR = 1.25 95% CI: 1.01-1.54) after adjusting for sex. In fully adjusted models, serious illness in early life remained associated with CWP (RRR = 1.43 95% CI: 1.05-1.95), but associations with CRP were attenuated (RRR = 1.19 95% CI: 0.96-1.48). There were no associations with other pain. These findings suggest that those who have experienced serious illness in earlier life may require more support than others to minimise their risk of CWP in later life.
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