Nearly half of older adults improved in long-term study
Yale researchers found gains in cognition, physical function or both among many adults over 65, with positive views of aging tied to better outcomes.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
3 min read
Many adults over 65 became stronger, sharper or both during a long-running study, according to Yale University researchers, challenging the assumption that later life mainly brings steady loss. The study also found that older adults who held more positive views about aging were more likely to improve.
The research, published in the journal Geriatrics, analyzed more than 11,000 participants in the Health and Retirement Study, a federally funded survey that follows older Americans over time. Yale said the participants were tracked for up to 12 years.
Researchers reported that 45% of participants improved in at least one of two areas: cognitive performance or physical function. About 32% improved on cognitive measures, while 28% improved physically, according to Yale.
How the study measured change
For cognition, the Yale team used a global cognitive assessment. For physical function, the researchers measured walking speed, which Yale said geriatricians often use as a broad indicator of health because it is tied to risks such as disability, hospitalization and mortality.
Becca R. Levy, lead author of the study and a professor at the Yale School of Public Health, said the findings show that improvement in later life is more common than many people believe. Yale said many of the gains were large enough to be considered clinically meaningful.
The researchers also found that the overall average can obscure individual improvement. Levy said that when participants are grouped together, the trend can look like decline, while individual paths show that a meaningful share of older adults improved.
Yale said the findings were not limited to people who began the study with impairment. Participants who started with normal cognitive and physical function also often improved, according to the researchers.
Beliefs about aging were linked to outcomes
The Yale team examined whether participants’ views about aging at the start of the study were associated with later changes. Researchers found that people with more positive age beliefs were more likely to improve in both cognitive performance and walking speed.
Yale said the association remained after researchers adjusted for age, sex, education, chronic disease, depression and length of follow-up. The study does not describe age beliefs as the only factor behind improvement, but it identifies them as a measurable factor tied to later outcomes.
The study builds on Levy’s stereotype embodiment theory, which proposes that age-related stereotypes absorbed from society can become personally meaningful and affect health. Yale said earlier studies led by Levy linked negative age beliefs to poorer memory, slower walking, higher cardiovascular risk and biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
According to Yale, the new study points in the other direction as well: people with more positive views of aging often showed gains. Levy said age beliefs can be changed, raising the possibility of interventions aimed at individuals and at broader public attitudes.
Martin D. Slade, a lecturer in occupational medicine at Yale School of Medicine and in environmental health sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, co-authored the study. Yale said the work was supported by funding from the National Institute on Aging.
This story draws on original reporting from ScienceDaily.