The functional ability of older people is now better when it is compared to that of individuals at precisely the same age three decades ago. This was detected in a study conducted in the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. The study compared the cognitive and physical functioning of individuals nowadays between the ages of 75 and 80 with this of the same-aged men and women in the 1990s.
“Performance-based measurements describe how older people manage in their daily life, and at the same time, the measurements reflect one’s functional age,” says the principal investigator of the study, Professor Taina Rantanen.
Among men and women between the ages of 75 and 80, muscular strength, walking speed, reaction speed, verbal fluency, reasoning and working memory are now significantly better than they had been in people in precisely the same age in the 1990’s. In lung function evaluations, however, differences between cohorts weren’t observed.
Postdoctoral researcher Matti Munukka continues:
“This research is unique because there are only a few studies in the world that have compared performance-based maximum measures between people of the same age in different historical times,” says Rantanen.
“The results suggest that our understanding of older age is old-fashioned. From an aging researcher’s point of view, more years are added to midlife, and not so much to the utmost end of life. Increased life expectancy provides us with more non-disabled years, but at the same time, the last years of life comes at higher and higher ages, increasing the need for care. Among the ageing population, two simultaneous changes are happening: continuation of healthy years to higher ages and an increased number of very old people who need external care.”
“The cohort of 75- and 80-year-olds born later has grown up and lived in a different world than did their counterparts born three decades ago. There have been many favourable changes. These include better nutrition and hygiene, improvements in health care and the school system, better accessibility to education and improved working life.”
The results imply that improved life expectancy is accompanied with an increased variety of years lived with great working ability in later life. The monitoring can be explained by lesser rate-of-change with increasing age, a greater life maximum in physical performance, or a blend of both.
“This study is unique since there are just a few studies in the world that have compared performance-based maximum steps between people of the same age in different historical times,” states Rantanen.
“The results suggest that our comprehension of older age is old-fashioned. From an aging researcher’s standpoint, more years are added into midlife, and not so much to the end of life. Increased life expectancy supplies us with more non-disabled decades, but at the exact same time, the last years of life stems in greater and higher ages, raising the need for care. One of the ageing people, two simultaneous changes are happening: continuation of healthy years to high ages and an elevated number of very old men and women who need external care”
Related Journal Article: https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/gerona/glaa224/5901594?redirectedFrom=fulltext