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Scientific article
Open access
English

Investigating Discontinuity of Age Relations in Cognitive Functioning, General Health Status, Activity Participation, and Life Satisfaction between Young-Old and Old-Old Age

Publication date2016
Abstract

Health research suggests that findings on young-old adults cannot be generalized to old-old adults and thus that old-old age seems not a simple continuation of young-old age due to qualitative changes that result in a discontinuity in old age. Specifically, it would be of conceptual and methodological importance to inform research regarding estimates around which chronological age the beginning of old-old age could be placed at a population level, and whether this is universal or domain-specific. To derive such criteria, we investigated potential discontinuity of age relations between young-old and old-old age in a large population-based sample considering measures in different domains (processing speed, verbal abilities, general health status, activity participation, and life satisfaction). For processing speed, verbal abilities, general health status, and life satisfaction we observed some very small indication that there might be a discontinuity of age relations at the end of individuals' eighties, and for activity participation already at the beginning of individuals' eighties. In conclusion, models conceptualizing aging as a gradual development might not suffice to adequately represent the differences between the stages of young-old and old-old age due to some very small indication that there might be discontinuity in late adulthood.

Keywords
  • young-old adults versus old-old adults
  • cognition
  • health
  • activity participation
  • life satisfaction
  • VLV
Citation (ISO format)
IHLE, Andreas et al. Investigating Discontinuity of Age Relations in Cognitive Functioning, General Health Status, Activity Participation, and Life Satisfaction between Young-Old and Old-Old Age. In: International journal of environmental research and public health, 2016, vol. 13, n° 11, p. 1092. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13111092
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Article (Published version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
ISSN of the journal1660-4601
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204downloads

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