Search

Background: Lifestyle factors predicting successful aging as a unified concept or as separate components of successful aging are important for understanding healthy aging, interventions and preventions. The main objective was to investigate the effect of midlife predictors on subsequent successful aging 20 years later. Materials and methods: Data were from a population-based health survey, the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT), with an average follow-up of 22.6 years. Individuals free of major disease at baseline in 1984–86 with complete datasets for the successful aging components in HUNT3 in 2006–08, were included (n = 4497; mean age at baseline 52.7, range 45–59, years). Successful aging was defined either as a unified category or as three components: being free of nine specified diseases and depression, having no physical or cognitive impairment, and being actively engaged with life. The midlife predictors (smoking, physical activity, alcohol consumption, obesity and social support) were analysed both as separate predictors and combined into a lifestyle index controlling for sociodemographic variables, using multivariable regression analysis. Results: Successful aging as a unified concept was related to all the lifestyle factors in the unadjusted analyses, and all except alcohol consumption in the adjusted analyses. The individual components of successful aging were differently associated with the lifestyle factors; engagement with life was less associated with the lifestyle factors. Non- smoking and good social support were the most powerful predictors for successful aging as a unified concept. When the lifestyle factors were summed into a lifestyle index, there was a trend for more positive lifestyle to be related to higher odds for successful aging. Conclusions: Lifestyle factors predicted an overall measure of SA, as well as the individual components, more than 20 years later. Modifiable risk factors in midlife, exemplified by social support, may be used for interventions to promote overall health and specific aspects of health in aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether one falls into the category of successfully aging elderly (SAE) is generally determined by biological, medical, psychological, and cognitive factors. SAE, pathological aging and usual aging, are the three subgroups presented in the seminal science paper by Rowe & Kahn in 1987. SAE is currently vaguely defined as being free of disease, having preserved cognitive function and an active life, but a more detailed definition is lacking. As a result, the research on SAE is heterogeneous and hard to summarize. Nevertheless, it is clear that genetics, health, basic aging mechanisms, brain changes, cognition early in life, education level, lifestyle factors, subjective factors, the availability of societal health care, environmental factors, and any interaction between all these variables, are important. There are also methodological difficulties associated with studies of causal relationships across the lifespan. Obtaining a detailed understanding of SAE research will be a challenging task for future researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A timely diagnosis of dementia can be beneficial for providing good support, treatment, and care, but the diagnostic rate remains unknown and is probably low. Objective: To determine the dementia diagnostic rate and to describe factors associated with diagnosed dementia. Methods: This registry linkage study linked information on research-based study diagnoses of all-cause dementia and subtypes of dementias, Alzheimer's disease, and related dementias, in 1,525 participants from a cross-sectional population-based study (HUNT4 70+) to dementia registry diagnoses in both primary-care and hospital registries. Factors associated with dementia were analyzed with multiple logistic regression. Results: Among those with research-based dementia study diagnoses in HUNT4 70+, 35.6% had a dementia registry diagnosis in the health registries. The diagnostic rate in registry diagnoses was 19.8% among home-dwellers and 66.0% among nursing home residents. Of those with a study diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, 35.8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 32.6–39.0) had a registry diagnosis; for those with a study diagnosis of vascular dementia, the rate was 25.8% (95% CI 19.2–33.3) and for Lewy body dementias and frontotemporal dementia, the diagnosis rate was 63.0% (95% CI 48.7–75.7) and 60.0% (95% CI 43.3–75.1), respectively. Factors associated with having a registry diagnosis included dementia in the family, not being in the youngest or oldest age group, higher education, more severe cognitive decline, and greater need for help with activities of daily living. Conclusions: Undiagnosed dementia is common, as only one-third of those with dementia are diagnosed. Diagnoses appear to be made at a late stage of dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Subjective memory complaints are common in both elderly individuals and patients with dementia. This study investigated the power of subjective memory, divided into declarative and working memory, to differentiate between patients with dementia and normal elderly individuals. Method: Two groups of participants, patients with dementia (n = 117) and normal elderly individuals (n = 117), individually matched with regard to age, gender, and education. All subjects had participated in the third wave of the HUNT population health survey in Nord‐Trøndelag County in Norway and completed the Meta‐Memory Questionnaire (MMQ) in the HUNT study. The MMQ was subdivided into two components, one associated with declarative memory (episodic and semantic) and the other with working memory. Results: Patients with dementia reported significantly more subjective memory concerns than normal elderly individuals. The difference between working and declarative memory components was significantly greater in patients with dementia than in normal elderly individuals. This finding made it possible to differentiate patients with dementia from the normal elderly individuals. Mental and somatic health conditions did not significantly add power to differentiating the two groups. Conclusion: In clinical and research applications, subjective memory components could contribute to differentiation of patients with dementia and normal elderly individuals by using self‐reported impairment in working memory, rather than declarative memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]