Abstract
Frailty is a complex state of objective and subjective vulnerability. It tends to increase with age, but the process is influenced by previous life course, especially previous disadvantages. The aim of this paper is to examine how the disadvantages suffered in adulthood (25 to 59 years) in four domains (unemployment, financial hardship, stress, and bad health) affect frailty in late adulthood (60 to 79 years). Using linear regression models on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (2004–2017), we estimate frailty levels for several age groups (60–64, 65–69, 70–74, 75–79) accounting for both the persistence of these disadvantages over time and their coexistence, i.e., the number of years when they were simultaneously experienced. Results show that while frailty increases with age, as expected, there is also evidence of an accumulation of risks: the longer the periods of adult life affected by unemployment, stress, financial hardship or, most importantly, bad health, the frailer individuals are in their late years. Furthermore, periods of coexisting disadvantages in adulthood translate into additional frailty in late life. Our findings highlight the importance of fighting disadvantages early in life: long-term improvements in terms of reduced frailty (a concept interrelated with health) may be substantial.
Highlights
Longev. 2022, 2, 12–25. https://Health at older ages is subject to physiological decline [1], but it is path-dependent: it reflects what happened in youth and adulthood [2]
Results show that while frailty increases with age, as expected, there is evidence of an accumulation of risks: the longer the periods of adult life affected by unemployment, stress, financial hardship or, most importantly, bad health, the frailer individuals are in their late years
Our analysis focuses on individuals aged between 60 and 79 years for whom retrospective information is available, as collected in two SHARELIFE modules: wave 3 in 2009 and wave 7 in 2017
Summary
Longev. 2022, 2, 12–25. https://Health at older ages is subject to physiological decline [1], but it is path-dependent: it reflects what happened in youth and adulthood [2]. Life trajectories begin in childhood [3]. Each stage affects the and all are subject to several constraints, among which are the economic ones, and when these constraints are binding the consequences on health in old age may be severe [8]. Health tends to deteriorate in later life, but this deterioration is not the same for everybody. It is marked for those whose life trajectory was unfavorable, especially if adversities cumulated or lasted for long periods, or both [9,10]. While each exposure exerts an independent effect on later life health, multiple exposures, not surprisingly, prove harmful
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