Physical and cognitive functioning of people older than 90 years: a comparison of two Danish cohorts born 10 years apart.

Christensen, Kaare

Thinggaard, Mikael

Oksuzyan, Anna

Steenstrup, Troels

Andersen-Ranberg, Karen

Jeune, Bernard

McGue, Matt

Vaupel, James W

England

2017-06-01T19:58:02Z

2017-06-01T19:58:02Z

2013-11-02

BACKGROUND: A rapidly increasing proportion of people in high-income countries are surviving into their tenth decade. Concern is widespread that the basis for this development is the survival of frail and disabled elderly people into very old age. To investigate this issue, we compared the cognitive and physical functioning of two cohorts of Danish nonagenarians, born 10 years apart. METHODS: People in the first cohort were born in 1905 and assessed at age 93 years (n=2262); those in the second cohort were born in 1915 and assessed at age 95 years (n=1584). All cohort members were eligible irrespective of type of residence. Both cohorts were assessed by surveys that used the same design and assessment instrument, and had almost identical response rates (63%). Cognitive functioning was assessed by mini-mental state examination and a composite of five cognitive tests that are sensitive to age-related changes. Physical functioning was assessed by an activities of daily living score and by physical performance tests (grip strength, chair stand, and gait speed). FINDINGS: The chance of surviving from birth to age 93 years was 28% higher in the 1915 cohort than in the 1905 cohort (6·50% vs 5·06%), and the chance of reaching 95 years was 32% higher in 1915 cohort (3·93% vs 2·98%). The 1915 cohort scored significantly better on the mini-mental state examination than did the 1905 cohort (22·8 [SD 5·6] vs 21·4 [6·0]; p<0·0001), with a substantially higher proportion of participants obtaining maximum scores (28-30 points; 277 [23%] vs 235 [13%]; p<0·0001). Similarly, the cognitive composite score was significantly better in the 1915 than in the 1905 cohort (0·49 [SD 3·6] vs 0·01 [SD 3·6]; p=0·0003). The cohorts did not differ consistently in the physical performance tests, but the 1915 cohort had significantly better activities of daily living scores than did the 1905 cohort (2·0 [SD 0·8] vs 1·8 [0·7]; p<0·0001). INTERPRETATION: Despite being 2 years older at assessment, the 1915 cohort scored significantly better than the 1905 cohort on both the cognitive tests and the activities of daily living score, which suggests that more people are living to older ages with better overall functioning. FUNDING: Danish National Research Foundation; US National Institutes of Health-National Institute on Aging; Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation; VELUX Foundation.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23849796

S0140-6736(13)60777-1

1474-547X

https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14712

eng

Elsevier BV

Lancet

10.1016/S0140-6736(13)60777-1

Activities of Daily Living

Aged, 80 and over

Cognition

Denmark

Female

Humans

Longevity

Male

Motor Activity

Neuropsychological Tests

Surveys and Questionnaires

Time Factors

Physical and cognitive functioning of people older than 90 years: a comparison of two Danish cohorts born 10 years apart.

Journal article

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23849796

1507

1513

9903

Center for Population Health & Aging

Duke

Duke Population Research Institute

Sanford School of Public Policy

Staff

Published

382