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Background: Following the active ageing model based on the Health, Lifelong Learning, Participation and Security pillars, this research has a twofold objective: i) to classify older adults according to active ageing profiles, taking into account the four pillars, and ii) to ascertain the relationship between the profiles and personal and contextual factors, as well as well-being and quality of life in old age., Methods: A study sample of 5,566 Spanish older adults who participated in wave 6 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) was included. Data were analysed in different steps applying several statistical analyses (Principal Component, Cluster, Discriminant, Multiple Correspondence and bivariate analysis with Pearson chi-square and ANOVA)., Results: Five older adult profiles were obtained (I: with moderate activity; II: quasi-dependents; III: with active ageing-limiting conditions; IV: with diverse and balanced activity; V: with excellent active ageing conditions). The first three profiles were characterised by subjects with a high average age, low educational level, who were retired or housewives, and who perceived a moderate level of loneliness, satisfaction with the social network and quality of life, as well as having a larger family network, but living in small households or alone. In contrast, the latter two profiles showed better personal and contextual conditions, well-being and quality of life., Discussion and Conclusions: The multidimensional approach to active ageing followed in this article has revealed the presence of several older adult profiles, which are confined to groups with better or worse active ageing conditions. In this context, if ageing is a process that reflects the previous way of life, intervention priorities will have to consider actions that promote better conditions during the life cycle., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Aim: To carry out an analysis of the psychometric properties of the Disease Burden Morbidity Assessment (DBMA) according to the assumptions of the Classical Test Theory., Methods: A sample of 707 community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older, living in Spain, completed the DBMA. Psychometric properties of the scale (feasibility, acceptability, scaling assumptions, reliability and construct validity) were analyzed., Results: The mean DBMA score was 6.8. Feasibility and acceptability were satisfactory, except for large floor effects (>50%), as well as a skewed distribution (1.8). Item-total corrected correlation ranged 0.10-0.49, item homogeneity index was 0.09 and Cronbach's alpha was 0.72. Disease burden correlated strongly with physical functioning (r = -0.56) and perceived health (r = -0.56), and moderately with depression (r = 0.41) and the Personal Wellbeing Index (r = -0.41). Exploratory factor analysis extracted five factors, explaining 44% of the variance., Conclusions: The DBMA is an acceptable and valid instrument for measuring disease burden in older adults. Future studies should include Rasch analysis to further assess dimensionality and explore other measurement properties. Geriatr Gerontol 2017; 17: 1102-1108., (© 2016 Japan Geriatrics Society.)

Background: As the population ages, the prevalence of multimorbidity also increases, with consequences to several health outcomes such as disability and quality of life (QoL). This study aimed at analyzing the relationships between chronic conditions, disability, and QoL of older adults with multimorbidity in Spain., Method: Data on older adults aged 65 years or more, with at least two chronic health conditions were drawn from three cohort studies. Sample size was 705, 443, and 4995, respectively. For each cohort, the impact of the following chronic health conditions was analyzed: asthma, cancer, cardiac, diabetes, hypertension, mental health disorders, osteoarticular conditions, and stroke. Disability and QoL measures varied according to the survey., Results: In older adults with multimorbidity, the most prevalent conditions were osteoarticular (59.08-67.80%) and hypertension (50.64-60.03%). The presence of disability was significantly associated to having osteoarticular (OR range: 1.53 to 2.646), diabetes (OR: 1.86 to 1.71), or mental health disorders (OR: 2.19 to 3.36) in most cohorts. Disability (OR: 1.67 to 7.67), osteoarticular conditions (OR: 3.37 to 5.10), and mental health disorders (OR: 1.83 to 4.27) showed the highest effects on lower QoL than the population., Conclusion: The presence of disability and diverse chronic conditions has a negative effect on QoL of older adults affected by multimorbidity in Spain. Public health and primary care interventions focusing on the integrated care of older adults with multimorbidity might give special attention to mental health and osteoarticular conditions., (Copyright © 2015 European Federation of Internal Medicine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The objective of this study was to assess how disease burden caused by chronic conditions is related to mortality (predictive validity) and other health outcomes (convergent validity). This was studied in 625 community-dwelling adults living in Spain aged 65 years and older. Disease burden was measured with the Disease Burden Morbidity Assessment (DBMA). The association with 5-year mortality was assessed using a Cox model and Kaplan–Meier curves. For convergent validity, mean age, sex ratio, patient-centered outcomes and healthcare utilization were compared for high and low DBMA scores (< 10 vs. ≥ 10). Also, a multivariable linear regression model was used to evaluate the DBMA as a function of these variables. Mean DBMA score in our sample was 7.5. After 5 years, 35 participants had died (5.5%). The Cox model displayed a hazard ratio of 1.07, and the Kaplan–Meier curves showed lower survival for high DBMA scores. Among participants with high DBMA scores, low self-perceived health, disability and female sex were more frequent, and this group showed lower mean scores for quality of life (Personal Wellbeing Index), affect balance (Scale of Positive and Negative Experience) and physical activity (Yale Physical Activity Survey), higher mean age and higher healthcare utilization than persons with low DBMA scores. In the multivariable regression, all variables but age were significantly associated with the DBMA. In conclusion, the DBMA showed satisfactory predictive and convergent validity. In our aging society, it can be applied to better understand and improve care for older persons with multiple chronic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The conceptual framework of Quality of Life (QoL) allows approaching the knowledge of the living conditions of people in order to help establishing policies for QoL improvement. This study is aimed at examining the assessment made by older adults on their personal wellbeing and the satisfaction with life and the associated factors. A of the psychometric properties of the measurement instrument was also presented. Method: The data came from the Ageing in Spain Longitudinal Study, Pilot Survey (ELES-PS), carried out in 2011 among people 50 years old or more living in family housing in Spain. The Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI), as a multidimensional measure of QoL, was used to evaluate the subjective wellbeing. Personal, social and residential characteristics were considered as independent variables. Descriptive statistical analysis, ANOVA, correlation, factor and regression analyses were applied. Results and conclusions: The PWI had good psychometric properties and showed the convergent validity with satisfaction with life as a whole (SWLW). Unidimensional structure of the scale was also demonstrated. PWI and SWLW total scores reached 74.5%SM and 77.1%SM, respectively The best rated life domains were the satisfaction with relationships, safety and feeling part of the community. The SWLW observed significant differences in gender categories while PWI within age and social status. Both scales were associated with marital status, educational level, household size, current activity status and social status. The regression model of the PWI explained 34.2% of the variance through factors on socio-demographic and economic resources, psychosocial, health/functioning, family and social networks, leisure and residential environment. Based on these results, it would be desirable to deepen on this line from a longitudinal perspective to detect the influence of the changing conditions of the aged people in their personal well-being and life satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Study The Disease Burden Morbidity Assessment (DBMA) is a self-report questionnaire in which participants rate the disease burden caused by a number of medical conditions. This paper studies the measurement properties of the DBMA, using Rasch analysis. Design and Methods We used data of 1,400 community-dwelling adults aged 50 years and older participating in the Ageing in Spain Longitudinal Study, Pilot Survey (ELES-PS). Test of fit to the Rasch model, reliability, unidimensionality, response dependency, category structure, scale targeting, and differential item functioning (DIF) were studied in an iterative way. Construct validity of the linear measure provided by the Rasch analysis was subsequently assessed. Results To achieve an adequate fit to the Rasch model, all items were rescored by collapsing response categories. Reliability (Person Separation Index) was low. The scale was unidimensional and neither response dependency nor relevant DIF were found. The linear measure had a correlation of −0.48 with physical functioning, −0.47 with perceived health, 0.32 with depression, and −0.24 with quality of life (QoL) and displayed satisfactory known-groups validity by sex and age groups. Relative precision analysis showed that the linear measure discriminated better between age groups than the original raw score, but for sex no difference was found. Implications Despite some limitations, support was found for the validity of the DBMA in older adults. Its linear scores may be useful to assess strategies aimed at improving the QoL of patients with multimorbidity. More research is needed in a hospital-based sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]