Abstract

Objective: To explore changes in self-reported disabilities, health, comorbidities and psychological wellbeing (PWB) in aged cohorts over two decades.

Design, setting and subjects: Cross-sectional cohort studies with postal surveys were conducted among community-dwelling people aged 75, 80, 85, 90 and 95 years in 1989 (n = 660), 1999 (n = 2598) and 2009 (n = 1637) in Helsinki, Finland.

Main outcome measures: Self-reported items on disability, self-rated health (SRH), diagnoses and PWB were compared between cohorts of the same age. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were calculated for each study year to explore the representativeness of the samples compared to general population of same age.

Results: A significantly lower proportion of the 75–85-year-olds of the later study years reported going outdoors daily, although this group had improvements in both SRH and PWB scores. The number of comorbidities increased over time among 75–85-year-olds. The only significant change that could be verified among 90- and 95-year-olds between 1999 and 2009, was the lower proportion of participants going outdoors daily. The trend of leveling-off in disabilities was not explained by the SMRs (0.90, 0.71 and 0.60 for 1989, 1999 and 2009).

Conclusions: The latest older people’s cohorts showed an end to previously reported improvements in disabilities, despite having favorable trends in SRH and PWB. Primary care may be faced with increasing need of appropriate services for their senior members.

Details

Title
Changes in disability, self-rated health, comorbidities and psychological wellbeing in community-dwelling 75–95-year-old cohorts over two decades in Helsinki
Author
Karppinen, Helena 1 ; Pitkälä, Kaisu H 1 ; Kautiainen, Hannu 2 ; Tilvis, Reijo S 3 ; Valvanne, Jaakko 4 ; Yoder, Käthe 1 ; Strandberg, Timo E 5 

 General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; 
 General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland;; Primary Health Care Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland; 
 Geriatrics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; 
 School of Medicine, University of Tampere, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland;; Gerontology Research Center, Universities of Jyväskylä and Tampere, Tampere, Finland; 
 Geriatrics, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland;; Institute of Health Sciences/Geriatrics, University of Oulu, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland 
End page
285
Publication year
2017
Publication date
Sep 2017
Publisher
Taylor & Francis LLC
ISSN
02813432
e-ISSN
15027724
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2199203872
Copyright
© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons  Attribution – Non-Commercial License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.