Healthy ageing in the Nun Study: definition and neuropathologic correlates
Open Access
- 28 September 2007
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Age and Ageing
- Vol. 36 (6), 650-655
- https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afm120
Abstract
Background: although the concept of healthy ageing has stimulated considerable interest, no generally accepted definition has been developed nor has its biological basis been determined. Objective: to develop a definition of healthy ageing and investigate its association with longevity and neuropathology. Methods: analyses were based on cognitive, physical, and post-mortem assessments from 1991 to 1998 in the Nun Study, a longitudinal study of ageing in participants 75+ years at baseline. We defined three mutually exclusive levels of healthy ageing (excellent, very good, and good) based on measures of global cognitive function, short-term memory, basic and instrumental activities of daily living, and self-rated function. Mortality analyses were based on 636 participants; neuropathologic analyses were restricted to 221 who had died and were autopsied. Results: only 11% of those meeting criteria for the excellent level of healthy ageing at baseline subsequently died, compared with 24% for the very good, 39% for the good, and 60% for the remaining participants. Survival curves showed significantly greater longevity with higher levels of healthy ageing. The risk of not attaining healthy ageing, adjusted for age, increased two-fold in participants with brain infarcts alone, six-fold in those with Alzheimer neuropathology alone, and more than thirteen-fold in those with both brain infarcts and Alzheimer neuropathology. Conclusions: the biological validity of our definition of healthy ageing is supported by its strong association with mortality and longevity. Avoiding Alzheimer and stroke neuropathology is critical to the maintenance of healthy ageing, and the presence of both pathologies dramatically decreases the likelihood of healthy ageing.Keywords
This publication has 25 references indexed in Scilit:
- Successful AgingThe Gerontologist, 1997
- Aging and Alzheimer's Disease: Lessons From the Nun StudyThe Gerontologist, 1997
- The Relationship of Self-Rated Function and Self-Rated Health to Concurrent Functional Ability, Functional Decline, and Mortality: Findings from the Nun StudyThe Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 1996
- A life span model of successful aging.American Psychologist, 1996
- A life span model of successful aging.American Psychologist, 1996
- The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Part V. A normative study of the neuropsychological batteryNeurology, 1994
- Self-Efficacy and Cognitive Performance in High-Functioning Older IndividualsJournal of Aging and Health, 1993
- The Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD). Part I. Clinical and neuropsychological assesment of Alzheimer's diseaseNeurology, 1989
- Human Aging: Usual and SuccessfulScience, 1987
- “Mini-mental state”: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinicianJournal of Psychiatric Research, 1975