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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-Trondelag 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 int

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-Trondelag 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.

Background: Subjective memory is commonly considered to be a unidimensional measure. However, theories of performance-based memory suggest that subjective memory could be divided into more than one dimension. Objective: To divide subjective memory into theoretically related components of memory and explore the relationship to disease. Methods: In this study, various aspects of self-reported memory were studied with respect to demographics and diseases in the third wave of the HUNT epidemiological study in middle Norway. The study included all individuals 55 years of age or older, who responded to a nine-item questionnaire on subjective memory and questionnaires on health (n=18 633). Results: A principle component analysis of the memory items resulted in two memory components; the criterion used was an eigenvalue above 1, which accounted for 54% of the total variance. The components were interpreted as long-term memory (LTM; the first component; 43% of the total variance) and short-term memory (STM; the second component; 11% of the total variance). Memory impairment was significantly related to all diseases (except Bechterew's disease), most strongly to brain infarction, heart failure, diabetes, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and whiplash. For most diseases, the STM component was more affected than the LTM component; however, in cancer, the opposite pattern was seen. Conclusions: Subjective memory impairment as measured in HUNT contained two components, which were differentially associated with diseases.

The factors influencing successful aging (SA) are of great interest in an aging society. The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence of SA, the relative importance across age of the three components used to define it (absence of disease and disability, high cognitive and physical function, and active engagement with life), and its correlates. Data were extracted from the population-based cross-sectional Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT3 2006–2008). Individuals aged 70–89 years with complete datasets for the three components were included (N = 5773 of 8,040, 71.8%). Of the respondents, 54.6% were women. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to analyze possible correlates of SA. Overall, 35.6% of the sample met one of the three criteria, 34.1% met combinations, and 14.5% met all of the three criteria. The most demanding criterion was high function, closely followed by absence of disease, while approximately two-thirds were actively engaged in life. The relative change with age was largest for the high cognitive and physical function component and smallest for active engagement with life. The significant correlates of SA were younger age, female gender, higher education, weekly exercise, more satisfaction with life, non-smoking, and alcohol consumption, whereas marital status was not related to SA. The prevalence of SA in this study (14.5%) is comparable to previous studies. It may be possible to increase the prevalence by intervention directed toward more exercise, non-smoking, and better satisfaction with life.