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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Lifestyle habits and compression of morbidity | | Author(s) | Helen B Hubert, Daniel A Bloch, John W Oehlert |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, vol 57A, no 6, June 2002 |
| Pages | pp M347-M351 |
| Keywords | Ill health ; Health [elderly] ; Preventative medicine ; Physical disabilities ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | Studies have show that healthy lifestyles are associated with less disability in an ageing population, and that onset of disability can be postponed with health habits such as greater physical activity and abstinence from smoking. This study tests this "compression of morbidity" hypothesis, by observing functional status in 418 deceased members of an ageing cohort between 1986 and 1999 in relationship to lifestyle-related risk factors, including smoking, physical inactivity, and under- or overweight. Three risk groups were created based on the number of these factors at study entry. The risk-factor-free group showed average disability scores near zero 10-12 years before death, rising slowly over time, without evidence of accelerated functional decline. In contrast, those with two or more factors maintained a greater level of disability throughout follow-up and experienced an increase in the rate of decline 1.5 years prior to death. For those at moderate risk, the rate of decline increased significantly only in the last 3 months of life. The results make a compelling argument for the reduction and postponement of disability with healthier lifestyles, as proposed in the compression of morbidity hypothesis. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020822209 A |
| Classmark | CH: CC: LK2: BN: 3J: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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