| |
Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
 | |
|
| Reading daily predicts reduced mortality among men from a cohort of community-dwelling 70 year olds | | Author(s) | Jeremy M Jacobs, Robert Hammerman-Rozenberg, Aaron Cohen |
| Journal title | Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, vol 63B, no 2, March 2008 |
| Pages | pp S73-S80 |
| Source | http://www.geron.org |
| Keywords | Reading ; Death rate [statistics] ; Older men ; Over 70s ; Living in the community ; Longitudinal surveys ; Israel. |
| Annotation | Although social and physical components of leisure activity have proven beneficial to successful ageing, the influence of solitary and non-strenuous activity on subsequent ageing is unclear. This study examined reading activity to investigate the relationship of solitary, non-strenuous activity on ageing and mortality. A cohort of visually and cognitively intact community-dwelling participants born in 1920 and 1921 from the Jerusalem Longitudinal Study underwent comprehensive assessment at ages 70 and 78. Mortality data were collected spanning 8 years. Reading daily was common at both ages - 62% of the sample at age 70 and 68% at age 78 - and was associated at baseline with female gender, western origin, higher socioeconomic and educational status, employment, and reduced medications. The hazard ratio over the 8-year follow-up among men was significantly reduced (r= 0.44) after adjusting for numerous social, medical and health parameters. The findings suggest that leisure activities devoid of social or physical benefits may nonetheless contribute to improved ageing, predicting reduced mortality among men. A further definition of leisure activities may be useful when considering the impact of these activities among older people. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-081009209 A |
| Classmark | HKM: S5: BC: BBK: K4: 3J: 7H6 |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
|
| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
| |
|