Successive Age Levels Research Articles

Successful Aging Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Rural Areas of Jember District

Background: Successful aging is a condition when the elderly not only live long but remain in good health so that they can be independent, and useful. Purpose: This study aims to determine the description of successful aging in the elderly at Karang Werda, Rambipuji District, Jember Regency. Methods: This study used a descriptive observational design with a cross-sectional approach and involved 213 elderly people selected by total sampling. The research instrument used the Successful Aging Scale (SAS). Data analysis used descriptive statistical tests and a chi-square test in crosstab analysis to analyze the characteristics of respondents with successful aging. Results: The success rate of aging in the elderly was mostly high. The highest indicators of successful aging were primary and secondary control, while the lowest were selection optimization and compensation. Analysis showed associations between the characteristics of age, gender, education, and smoking habits with successful aging (p-value < 0.05), while marital status, medical history, living status, employment, and income were not associated (p-value > 0.05). Conclusion: The majority of the elderly in Karang Werda, Rambipuji District, Jember Regency, showed a high level of successful aging.

Individual and environmental factors associated with successful aging among Korean older adults: Multilevel analysis of cross-sectional nationwide survey data

PurposeThe importance of environmental influences on successful aging has recently been emphasized. However, existing studies that investigated environmental factors related to successful aging in older adults did not apply multi-level analysis while simultaneously examining individual and environmental factors related to successful aging. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of successful aging in older adults and the individual and environmental factors related to successful aging. Materials and methodsData from a nationwide survey were used. The study comprised a cross-sectional sample of 73,942 community-dwelling adults aged ≥65 years with individual-level data drawn from the 2019 Korea Community Health Survey. Community-level data of 255 local administrative districts (cities or counties) were extracted from the Community Health Determinant Database from 2017 to 2019. These data were merged and used in multi-level logistic regression analyses. ResultsGenerally, 27.1% of the participants achieved successful aging. Individual factors including sex, age, marital status, education level, job, monthly household income, smoking, physical activity, and body mass index were significantly associated with successful aging. Four environmental factors, urban residential area, social network, satisfaction with living environment, and air quality, were positively associated with successful aging at the community level; among them, high satisfaction with living environment (OR = 6.06, 95% CI: 2.43–15.12) was the most strongly associated factor with successful aging. ConclusionsThe findings suggest that environmental factors are essential for successful aging among older adults in addition to individual factors. Therefore, multiple strategies considering individual and environmental factors are needed to improve successful aging.

Factors related to successful aging among community-dwelling elderly in Wenzhou, China

Abstract Objectives: To examine the level of successful aging and the relationship between successful aging and activities of daily living (ADL), life satisfaction, social support, income, and self-efficacy among community-dwelling elderly in Wenzhou, China. Methods: A descriptive correlational design was applied. Subjects were community-dwelling elderly in 4 districts of Wenzhou, China. Simple random sampling was used to recruit 83 participants. All participants were screened using the Mini-Cog tool. Data were collected using 6 questionnaires such as a demographic questionnaire, the Successful Aging Inventory (SAI), the Barthel Index for ADL, the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The results showed that 53% of the participants had a higher level of successful aging and 43.4% had a moderate level of successful aging with a mean score of 56.76 (standard deviation [SD] = 12.31). Factors such as elderly income (r = 0.73, P < 0.001) and self-efficacy (r = 0.72, P < 0.001) had high correlations with successful aging, whereas ADL (r = 0.67, P < 0.001), life satisfaction (r = 0.63, P < 0.001), and social support (r = 0.36, P < 0.001) had moderate correlations with successful aging. Conclusions: There was a significant positive correlation between successful aging and ADL, life satisfaction, social support, income, and self-efficacy among community-dwelling elderly in Wenzhou, China. The findings may guide the formulation of more effective health education and intervention measures to improve successful aging among the elderly.

Successful Aging Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Urban Areas of Liaoning Province: The Crucial Effect of Visual Ability.

PurposeSuccessful aging is an effective approach to coping with population aging; however, the definition and associated factors vary due to culture and demographic distribution differences. This study was designed to assess successful aging of the older adults in China and explore the associated factors.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was performed in Liaoning, China. After double-cognitive function screening, 3558 older adults (1656 males and 1902 females) ≥65 years of age served as our subjects. Successful aging was assessed based on the following: physical disability; cognitive function; activities of daily living; and self-rated psychological/mood status.ResultsThe rate of successful aging was 31.7% in males and 29.4% in females. After adjustment for age, multivariate logistic regression showed that successful aging was significantly associated with, in odds ratio sequence, visual ability, self-rated chronic disease, marital status, and filial piety in males, and with visual ability, self-rated chronic disease, watching television, and ethnicity in females.ConclusionThe level of successful aging in China is lower than in other countries. Demographic characteristics, health status, individual behavior, and social-psychological factors are all associated with successful aging. Overall, visual ability had the most crucial role in successful aging for the older adults, whether males or females.

The Mediating Role of Death Anxiety on The Relationship Between Successful Aging and Life Satisfaction

This study aimed to test the mediating role of death anxiety on the relationship between Turkish older adults’ levels of successful aging and life satisfaction. The study group consisted of 243 individuals (130 females, 113 males) aged 60 years and older. The Successful Aging Scale, Adult Satisfaction with Life Scale, and Death Anxiety Scale were used for data collection. The Pearson product-moment correlation technique and the standard multiple regression technique were used to analyze the data. Preliminary analysis showed the existence of significant relationships among the variables discussed in the study. The regression analysis results indicated that a significant relationship exists among elderly individuals’ levels of life satisfaction and death anxiety, with these variables significantly predicting their level of successful aging. Another important finding from this study was that the variables of death anxiety and life satisfaction together explain 36% of the total variance in successful aging. It was concluded that death anxiety was a mediating variable in the relationship between successful aging and life satisfaction. In this context, in order to obtain more detailed information, it is recommended to increase the studies in quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods within the framework of the concepts of death anxiety, successful aging and life satisfaction.

Successful aging and its influencing factors among permanent residents in Guangzhou city

Objective To estimate the prevalence and influencing factors of successful aging among permanent elderly residents in Guangzhou city, Guangdong province and to provide a reference for community health institutions in improving their services for successful aging of the elderly. Methods Using convenient sampling, we recruited 617 permanent local residents aged ≥ 60 years in a tertiary hospital, two nursing homes and two communities in Guangzhou city and conducted a questionnaire survey among the elderly from July to December 2018. Results For the 594 respondents with valid information, the mean total score of successful aging was 164.74 ± 21.69 and the average score for all successful aging items was 4.22 ± 0.56, with the mean domain scores of 4.35 ± 0.92 for health autonomy, 4.45 ± 0.83 for economic security, 4.21 ± 0.75 for life adaptation, 3.93 ± 0.80 for social and kinship relationships, 3.89 ± 0.88 for learning, and 4.63 ± 0.67 for family, respectively; 443 (74.6%) of the respondents were assessed as having successful aging based on an average score of greater than 3.95 for all the items for successful aging. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the respondents with following characteristics were more likely to have successful aging: with the education of senior high school, living with spouse, having a personal monthly income of 3 000 yuan (RMB) and more, with a general or good self-rated health, and residing in nursing homes or in communities; while the respondents with rural registered permanent residence were less likely to have successful aging. Conclusion The level of successful aging is relatively high and mainly influenced by education, registered residence, personal monthly income, self-rated health, and living place among permanent elderly residents in Guangzhou city.

The Relationship Between Spiritual Health and Successful Aging

Objectives: Successful aging is a positive inner feeling and satisfaction with the past and present life experiences. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the predicting factors of successful aging in a sample of Iranian elderly. Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 291 elderly in Qazvin City, Iran, in 2018. The study participants were selected using the two-stage cluster sampling method. Data collection was performed using the demographic characteristics checklist, the Successful Aging Scale, and Paloutzian and Ellison Spiritual Wellbeing Scale. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive tests (frequency, percentage, central & dispersion indices) and a hierarchical linear regression model. Results: The study sample was 291 elderly with a Mean±SD age of 68.3±6.7 years. The obtained results indicated that the spiritual health of 81.1% of the explored elderly was strong; most of the examined elderly presented a good level of successful aging. Besides, spiritual health was a predictor of successful aging in the study participants. Regarding the aspects of spiritual health, existential health positively and significantly impacted successful aging (B=0.65, P<0.001). Furthermore, the obtained data revealed that the employed elderly (B:4.29), compared to housewives (B:-4.25), those with high economic status, compared to those with a moderate (B:-3.44) and low (B:-7.332) economic level, and the elderly without a history of physical (B:-4.55) and mental (B:-2.54) conditions obtained significantly higher scores in successful aging. Conclusion: The existential aspect of spiritual health is among the predictors of successful aging. Given the importance and sensitivity of the issues related to the elderly, by interventions focused on spiritual education, one can increase the quality of this period and enrich it.

The association between the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and successful aging: An analysis of the ATTICA and MEDIS (MEDiterranean Islands Study) epidemiological studies

AimThe aim of the present work was to evaluate the association between the level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet and successful aging, taking into consideration the overall dietary pattern, rather than individual foods, among middle-aged and older individuals. MethodsA harmonized dataset of middle-aged and older participants (>50 years old) from the ATTICA (n = 1,128) and MEDIS (n = 2,221) population-based cross-sectional studies was used. Socio-demographic, anthropometric, clinical and lifestyle characteristics were measured in both studies and harmonized using standardized procedures. Level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet was evaluated using the MedDietScore (range 0–55, “Low” adherence <34, “High”>38). Successful aging was evaluated using the validated successful aging index (SAI, range 0−10) comprising of health-related, social, lifestyle and clinical characteristics. ResultsAdherence to the Mediterranean diet was positively associated with SAI (b ± SE “High” vs. “Low”: 1.094 ± 0.130, p < 0.001 and “Moderate” vs “Low”: 0.476 ± 0.156, p = 0.003). ConclusionHigher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was independently associated with a higher level of successful aging. Mediterranean diet or dietary patterns that are close to this pattern, should be actively promoted and encouraged to middle aged and older people to achieve successful aging.

The Level of Successful Aging and Influencing Factors of the Community Elderly

연구배경: 본 연구의 목적은 재가노인의 성공적 노화 수준을 파악하고, 성공적 노화에 영향을 미치는 요인을 분석하기 위함이다. 방법: 본 연구의 자료수집은 2017년 10월 1일부터 12월 30일까지이며, 충청남도에 거주하는 재가노인 169명을 대상으로하였다. 결과: 대상자의 성공적 노화 점수는 평균 3.57점(±0.58)으로 중앙값보다 높게 나타났다. 성공적 노화는 종교 유무, 지역사회 노인여가시설 이용 여부, 규칙적 운동, 통증, 주관적건강 상태에 따라 유의한 차이를 나타내었다. 회귀분석 결과 대상자의 성공적 노화에 영향을 미치는 요인은 지역사회여가시설 이용, 자존감 지지, 정서적 지지, 규칙적 운동, 통증의 순이었으며, 이들 변수들의 성공적 노화에 대한 설명력은 53%였다. 결론: 본 연구 결과 성공적 노화에서 정서적 지지와 자존감 지지가 중요하다는 것을 확인하였으며, 선행 연구들에서고려하지 못하였던 통증이라는 변수가 중요한 요인이라는것을 밝혔다.

Is car use related with successful aging of older adults? Results from the multinational Mediterranean islands study

PurposeThe aim of the present work was to evaluate the relation between car use and the level of successful aging of a random sample of older adults living in the Mediterranean basin. MethodsDuring 2005–2011, 2749 older (aged 65–100 years) from 22 islands and the rural Mani region (Peloponnesus) of Greece were voluntarily enrolled in the Mediterranean islands cross-sectional study. Sociodemographics, medical conditions, and dietary and lifestyle habits were derived throughout standard procedures. Car use was recorded with a standard binary question. A successful aging index ranging from 0–10 was used. ResultsOlder adults who used a car on regular basis had significantly higher levels of successful aging, as well as less prevalence of obesity and hypertension while were more physically active (P < .001). After adjusting for several confounders car use was still positively related with elderly islander's successful aging level (beta coefficient [95% confidence interval]: 0.65 [0.54–0.77]). ConclusionsIn conclusion, the activity of car use seems to be an indicator of quality of life among older adults, as measured through successful aging.

Successful Aging among Elders Living in the Mani Continental Region vs. Insular Areas of the Mediterranean: the MEDIS Study.

To evaluate the role of geography i.e., continental vs. insular Mediterranean, on successful aging among older inhabitants. During 2005-2014, 2693 elderly (aged 65 to 100 years) individuals from 21 Mediterranean islands in Greece, Italy and Spain as well as Cyprus, Malta, and the rural region of Mani (southeast continental region of Greece keeping old-time traditions), were voluntarily recruited. Successful aging was evaluated using a validated index composed of 10 health-related socio-lifestyle and clinical characteristics. After accounting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), physical activity, smoking habits, MedDietScore and access to health care services, the older inhabitants of islands were found to have a higher level of the successful aging index when compared to their counterparts in Mani (Beta=0.174, p<0.001); moreover, islanders exhibited slightly more years of “good” health (68.7 vs 68.4 years for Mani residents (p=0.99)). However, compared to the residents of Mani, islanders had 1.64 times higher odds (95%CI, 1.08-2.48) for having hypertension, 2.4-times higher odds (95%CI, 1.34-4.21) for having diabetes and 1.52 times higher odds (95%CI, 0.97-2.38) for having hypercholesterolemia. Engaging in physical activities and healthy dietary habits were the major determinants of healthy aging, among islanders as compared to their counterparts of continental Mani region. Elder residents of the continental Mani area enjoyed a better health status, whereas elder islanders had a higher level of successful aging; a finding which could be attributed to differences in lifestyle among elders.

A Comparative Study on Factors Influencing Successful Aging between Elders Attending Senior Citizen Clubs and Elders Not Attending Senior Citizen Clubs

Purpose: This study was conducted to examine level of successful aging and factors influencing successful aging between elders attending senior citizen clubs and elders not attending these clubs. Methods: Participants were 126 elders who used senior citizen clubs and 136 elders who did not use these clubs. A survey method was used and data were collected using questionnaires and interviews. Results: Successful aging scores were higher in the group using senior citizen clubs. Scores for social support, aging attitude, and social participation, perceived health status, and satisfactory relationship with offspring were higher for elders in senior citizen clubs than for elders not in these clubs. Factors influencing successful aging in both groups were social support, aging attitude, depression, as well as satisfactory relationship with offspring, and social participation. These factors accounted for 65% of variance in successful aging. Factors influencing successful aging in elders who used senior citizen clubs were social support and aging attitude. Factors influencing successful aging in elders who did not use these clubs were social support, aging attitude, depression, and perceived health status. Conclusion: These results provide a basis for nursing intervention programs to increase the prevalence of successful aging in Korean older adults. 주요어: ë ¸í™”, ë ¸ì¸, ì‚¬íšŒì  지지, 우울 Key Words: Aging, Aged, Social support, Depression

Effects of Grit on the Successful Aging of the Elderly in Korea

The purpose of the study was to determine how grit in the elderly affects the level of successful aging of elderly people living in communities. A survey was conducted with 315 aging people in the metropolitan cities of Seoul and Incheon as well as mid- and small-sized cities, including Cheonan and Seosan, and agriculture or fishery-based regions including TaeAn and Hongseong. A correlation and hierarchical regression analysis to identify the effects of grit on successful aging were conducted. First, the correlation coefficient between major variables was low, in a range of 0.02 0.41. Second, successful aging of the elderly was seen to increase when perseverance was high. These results will make academic and practical contributions in gerontology, welfare of the aged, social welfare, and psychosociology areas.Keywords: Grit, Successful Aging, The Elderly

Successful aging, dietary habits and health status of elderly individuals: A k-dimensional approach within the multi-national MEDIS study

The definition and determinants of successful aging is still controversial. Although dietary habits have long been associated with aging, eating habits and behaviors have rarely been included in various proposed indices of successful aging. The aim of this work was to evaluate determinants of successful aging together with assessment of dietary habits in relation to healthcare facility use among elders living in the Mediterranean basin. During 2005–2011, 2663 elderly (aged 65–100years) individuals from 21 Mediterranean islands and rural Mani region (Peloponnesus) were voluntarily enrolled in the study. A successful aging index ranging from a score of 0 to a score of 10 was constructed using 10 attributes, i.e., education, financial status, physical activity, body mass index, depression, participation in social activities with friends and family, number of yearly excursions, number of cardiovascular disease risk factors and adherence to the Mediterranean diet. The applied factor analysis on the components of the index extracted three main components for successful aging: psychosocial-economic, bioclinical and lifestyle; confirming the multiple dimensions of aging. After adjusting for confounders, a 1/10-unit increase in the successful aging index was associated with 0.8 less annual visits to healthcare centers (95% CI −1.3 to−0.2). Stratified analysis by gender revealed heterogeneity of factors predicting successful aging. These findings suggest that successful aging is a multidimensional and complex concept that exhibits gender heterogeneity. Annual use of health care services by the elders was found to be related to level of successful aging.

Gender differences in risk taking: A meta-analysis.

The authors conducted a meta-analysis of 150 studies in which the risk-taking tendencies of male and female participants were compared. Studies were coded with respect to type of task (e.g., self-reported behaviors vs. observed behaviors), task content (e.g., smoking vs. sex), and 5 age levels. Results showed that the average effects for 14 out of 16 types of risk taking were significantly larger than 0 (indicating greater risk taking in male participants) and that nearly half of the effects were greater than .20. However, certain topics (e.g., intellectual risk taking and physical skills) produced larger gender differences than others (e.g., smoking). In addition, the authors found that (a) there were significant shifts in the size of the gender gap between successive age levels, and (b) the gender gap seems to be growing smaller over time. The discussion focuses on the meaning of the results for theories of risk taking and the need for additional studies to clarify age trends.

Features of infant vocalization at successive age levels

It has been suggested that speech motor abilities in infants emerge within an invariant sequence of levels. The present study was designed to describe the articulatory‐acoustic features of infant vocalization and thus, to identify those that may be characteristic of infant utterances at different age levels or developmental levels. The vocalizations of five infants were studied on a limited longitudinal basis. The age ranges of these infants were 2–10, 12–23, 26–36, 40–55, and 72–88 weeks, respectively. Forty to 50 vocalizations were selected randomly from each infant's output at the first and at the last recording session for a total of ten recordings. These vocalizations were analyzed acoustically by means of computer‐assisted spectral analyses. Measurements of duration and frequency were made from the resulting displays, which also provided information to listeners as they judged voicing and vocalic and consonantal features. Analyses of these preliminary data suggest that three classes of features may provide useful indices of development of infant speech motor abilities: namely, (1) pitch contour; (2) vocalic features; and (3) consonantal features. The relative importance of each will be discussed. [Work supported by Bureau of Community Health Services, Maternal and Child Health.]

Binet Item Difficulty Then and Now

GARFINKEL, ROBIN, and THORNDIKE, ROBERT L. Binet Item Difficulty Then and Now. CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1976, 47, 959-965. This study was conducted to determine how items of the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, Form L-M, had performed in the 1930s standardization sample in comparison with the 1972 standardization sample. Curves were fitted to raw percentage passing at successive age levels using a normal maximum-likelihood technique adapted from work done in the area of bioassay. Most items were found to have decreased in difficulty from the 1930s to the 1970s. This was especially true at the younger age levels. A few of the items that became more difficult contained specific content that could be expected to be less familiar to children of the later sample. Items tended to become more age specific in the 1972 sample.

Raven's Progressive Matrices as Applied to Iranian Children

This study reports the results of the application of Raven's Progressive Matrices (PM) to a representative sample of Iranian children attending schools in Teheran, the capital city of Iran. The study showed that boys did score slightly higher on the PM than did the girls, the differences being significant up to age 13. There was a consistent increase in PM scores at successive age levels, but the increments were not significant beyond age 15. Iranian children scored considerably below the British norms, although this decrement might have been due to the timed administration of PM in Iranian samples and to a variety of cultural factors. The reliability and validity of the PM were found to be satisfactory. Although the findings indicated the general suitability of the PM for use with Iranian children, there is a need for further normative and validity studies.

II Obesity and food practices of children at successive age levels: Environmental factors associated with preschool obesity

II Obesity and food practices of children at successive age levels: Environmental factors associated with preschool obesity

THE VARIABILITY OF WEIGHT AND HEIGHT INCREMENTS FROM BIRTH TO SIX YEARS

MUch time and effort has been expanded on the establishment of height and weight norms for normal children. Such norms fill an obvious need. They classify children and they are useful for studying progress over relatively long periods of time. However, for following the progress of children over shorter periods it is far more helpful to study growth increments. Norms for mean growth increments can be easily obtained from the usual height and weight tables (mean increment = difference between means at successive age levels). But the variability of increments must be calculated from raw data. Such norms have apparently not been published. This study was undertaken ibecause it was felt that suca norms can be of value to all interested in the progress of normal and abnormal children.