Predictors of healthy ageing: public health policy targets.

Agnieszka Sowa,Andrea Poscia,Beata Tobiasz-Adamczyk,Daniele Ignazio La Milia,Roman Topór-Mądry

doi:10.1186/s12913-016-1520-5

Abstract

BackgroundThe public health policy agenda oriented towards healthy ageing becomes the highest priority for the European countries. The article discusses the healthy ageing concept and its possible determinants with an aim to identify behavioral patterns related to healthy ageing in selected European countries.MethodsThe healthy ageing is assessed based on a composite indicator of self-assessed health, functional capabilities and life meaningfulness. The logistic regression models are used to assess the impact of the healthy lifestyle index, psycho-social index and socio-economic status on the probability of healthy ageing (i.e. being healthy at older age). The lifestyle and psychosocial indexes are created as a sum of behaviors that might be important for healthy ageing. Models are analyzed for three age groups of older people: 60–67, 68–79 and 80+ as well as for three groups of countries representing Western, Southern and Central-Eastern Europe.ResultsThe lifestyle index covering vigorous and moderate physical activity, consumption of vegetables and fruits, regular consumption of meals and adequate consumption of liquids is positively related to healthy ageing, increasing the likelihood of being healthy at older age with each of the items specified in the index. The score of the index is found to be significantly higher (on average by 1 point for men and 1.1 for women) for individuals ageing healthily. The psychosocial index covering employment, outdoor social participation, indoor activities and life satisfaction is also found to be significantly related to health increasing the likelihood of healthy ageing with each point of the index score. There is an educational gradient in healthy ageing in the population below the age of 68 and in Southern and Central-Eastern European countries. In Western European countries, income is positively related to healthy ageing for females.ConclusionsStimulation physical activity and adequate nutrition are crucial domains for a well-defined public health policy oriented towards healthy ageing. The psychosocial elements related to social participation, engagement, networking and life satisfaction are also found to be health beneficial.

Highlights

The public health policy agenda oriented towards healthy ageing becomes the highest priority for the European countries
This study focuses on the relation between healthy ageing and three groups of factors: healthy lifestyle, psychosocial factors and socio-demographics
While many definitions of healthy ageing have been developed in the last decades, there is no consensual agreement on its content, what is a fundamental weakness of the concept and what might be problematic for the creation of a comprehensive public health policy [2, 3]

Summary

Introduction

The public health policy agenda oriented towards healthy ageing becomes the highest priority for the European countries. Political and social expectations influenced by the increasing life expectancy are expressed in the concept of ageing with high quality of life, lower level of morbidity, fewer years of disability and high life standards [1] This new approach to the older stage of life has been associated with an increasing research and public interest in developing an innovative, but still not so well defined, multifaceted concept of healthy. The second perspective, independently from physical health, is focused on the psychosocial dimensions of healthy ageing: psychological well-being and meaningful social activities performed by older people, social participation in different social networks, as well as on seeking some new opportunities to enjoy a good quality of life in older age

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Discussion

Conclusion